Marina Village, Barrow‑in‑Furness

Marina Village is a major residential‑led regeneration programme on Barrow‑in‑Furness’s waterfront, planned to deliver over 1,000 new homes. The scheme plays a critical role in supporting the town’s growing defence workforce, responding directly to housing demand linked to major investment at the BAE Systems shipyard.

Westmorland and Furness Council appointed CBRE to provide strategic development and delivery advice, supporting the Council in shaping a viable, investable approach to long‑term regeneration. Advice focused on defining an appropriate delivery structure, managing development risk, and unlocking funding to support delivery at scale.

A key challenge was bridging a significant viability gap while maintaining the quality and mix of housing required to support workforce retention and long‑term economic growth. CBRE’s advice tested a range of delivery and partnership options, balancing control, pace, and risk, and identified a contractual joint‑venture approach as the most effective route to delivery.

CBRE also advised on procurement strategy, recommending a compliant and flexible framework‑based approach capable of supporting complex partnership structures and long‑term delivery. This process enabled meaningful dialogue with bidders while retaining the Council’s ability to embed design quality, sustainability, and social value requirements.

A comprehensive funding strategy was developed to support delivery, combining public‑sector grant funding, brownfield infrastructure investment, affordable housing grant, and patient capital approaches. The agreed structure enables early phases to progress while supporting cross‑subsidy and reinvestment over the life of the programme.

Following a competitive procurement process, ECF was appointed as development partner, bringing together public‑sector regeneration expertise, institutional investment capacity, and delivery capability. Marina Village demonstrates how strategic development advice can align housing delivery with economic and workforce needs, offering a replicable model for place‑led growth in towns facing structural housing and skills challenges.