Almost half of the government's billion-pound, third round levelling up funding allocation is destined for town centre regeneration initiatives, CoStar News analysis shows, in a bid by 10 Downing Street and Communities secretary Michael Gove to boost high streets and local business growth ahead of next year's expected general election.

Of the 55 projects listed on the government's "Full List of Successful Projects", 26 directly relate to the improvement of town centres and their property mix, when disregarding those related to major transport projects. These projects translate to a cash injection of around £437 million for high streets and city centres across the UK out of an overall £1.1 billion.

Round three was the final phase of the government's Levelling Up Fund, which was established in 2021 to give local authorities much-needed resources to invest in high streets and town centres, as well as improving local transport and living standards. In total, the fund has provided just shy of £5 billion across hundreds of projects.

Following the final allocation round, CoStar News crunches the data to discover which regions and received the most funding across the three years and explores a recently published National Audit Office report to ask whether the flagship scheme is really helping "level up' the United Kingdom.

Yorkshire and Humber received the highest allocation of the final round, pocketing around £169 million. Major handouts included a circa £17 million allocation for the Levelling Up Doncaster North project, which will cover projects in the towns of Mexborough and Moorends.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband, the MP for Doncaster, said the resources would "deliver much needed investment" to the area, with the works in Mexborough including the refurbishment of the listed Red Lion Pub off Bank Street, in addition to the restoration of Montagu Chambers, which is destined for a mixed-use development, housing retail and residential.

Overall, Yorkshire and Humber won £477 million worth of funding across the three funding rounds, or 10% of the final £4.8 billion total. This was the second largest total out of the 12 regions.

It was pipped to first place by the North West, which received a total of circa £718 million across the three rounds, pocketing £128 million in the final stage. The region takes homes 15% of all funding available from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

The project to clinch the biggest funding amount in round three, £20 million, was the Bolton Town Centre North Regeneration scheme. A conference complex, redeveloped shopping centre and a luxury hotel make up part of the plans for the town's makeover.

Bolton also benefited from a £20 million allocation in Round One, which helped to pay for the construction of Bolton College of Medical Science. The building completes in September 2024 and will train 3,000 students a year.

Scotland received the third largest allocation in round three, totalling around £122 million. It brings its three-round total to circa £472 million, the third highest total representing around 10%. In round three, it clinched more than £37 million for projects in North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.

Around £17.5 million of that total is going towards developing derelict land in Irvine to build a new energy efficient, commercial space and electric charging points, as well as improving transport links. Sites being considered in Irvine include Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3.

Councillor Marie Burns, leader of North Ayrshire Council, explained in a statement the importance of the allocation. "It will help us tackle long-term vacant and derelict land which is one of the cornerstones of Community Wealth Building. It will help us bring these areas back into positive use."

One obvious omission from the third round funding announcement on Monday was Northern Ireland, which missed out completely on any funding, having secured around £121 million across the previous rounds. Reports in the BBC suggest that the lack of funding is due to the absence of its devolved government.

A Northern Ireland Department of Finance spokeswoman told the broadcaster: "Three separate funds have been paused with the reason cited by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities being the absence of the executive."

With the North West, Yorkshire and Humber, and Scotland claiming the top three, the rest of the regions were given collectively £3.1 billion. The West Midlands received a sizeable £470 million, getting £118 million in the final funding round.

Despite the allocation of billions of pounds to local authorities, the scheme has not been without its issues. Last week, a NAO report found that slow delivery of levelling up funding was causing issues with projects around costing.

It said that projects "are experiencing delays, which has led to many projects needing to be adjusted or rescoped", explaining that delays had seen the costs of some schemes change, amid rising construction bills.

"Local authorities told us they could not risk starting projects with no guarantee that funding would be released, meaning early enabling work such as arranging planning permission or compulsory purchase was delayed. This compresses the period in which funds can be spent," the report said.

The NAO also concluded that the delivery of projects across the Levelling Up Fund as well as two other initiatives, the Towns Fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, "is behind schedule". But it point out that DLUHC had made "significant improvements" in its approach to evaluating projects, which "puts it in a better position to understand future impacts delivered by these funds".

With the country set for an election next year, it remains to be seen what happens with wider levelling up policy, depending on who is in power. But for now at least, the incumbents are cracking on with what it believes will help to boost high streets and town centre regeneration.

Gove said in a statement: "This funding sits alongside our wider initiatives to spread growth, through devolving more money and power out of Westminster to towns and cities, putting in place bespoke interventions to places that need it most, and our Long-Term Plan for Towns."