eMoov criticises 'pathetic' government housebuilding fund

Initially, the government will open up £11m which councils can apply for, as well as an additional £3m in funding to support the development of 14 garden villages as part of an existing programme.

However founder and CEO of eMoov, Russell Quirk, described the initiative as an "attempt to grab headlines", stating that the money "is quite pathetic in the grand scheme of things".

Quirk added: "Whilst we argue whether we should pay £40 billion or £50 billion to the EU, such derisory sums supposedly aimed at helping solve our housing crisis are disappointing, to say the least, and to open the fund up to councils and third sector organisations via a Blue Peteresque competition format will only further slow the process.

"An additional £3 million for 'studies and assessments' of the already existing garden village initiative shows how off the pace the government is. By now they should be laying foundations and to allocate just £100,000-£275,000 to each of a number of garden village schemes is akin to knocking the cost of Phil Hammonds milk bill off of the national deficit."