Brentwood Borough Council is drawing up plans to loan up to £100million to developers in order to regenerate the borough.

In early proposals, the council said the regeneration fund – financed with money borrowed at low interest rates from the government or other local authorities by the council – would have a limit of £100m.

Each loan would be set at no less than £1m and no greater than £20m for individual projects.

The proposal follows the council’s ‘Brentwood 2025’ corporate strategy, which has placed growing the local economy as a central aspect of its ambition.

Council leader Chris Hossack said: “The overarching principle is this, when you have a dormant piece of scruffy land, whatever that might be – that might be a focus of anti-social behaviour, it might be a focus of perpetual enforcement and ultimately a drain on the council’s resources, that carries a cost.

“If through regeneration you can transform that land into something meaningful, whether it’s accommodation, whether it’s a business premises, whether it’s something that has a roof that generates a subsequent income through tax or business rates, then that’s the bigger picture."

The policy, resources and economic development committee voted for work to proceed on establishing a regeneration fund.