Government announces new £18m housebuilding fund

From today, councils can bid for a share of the ‘capacity fund’ to tackle planning issues that can cause delay and prevent builders from getting on site and starting work quickly.

The money aims to accelerate delivery of up to 800,000 homes and infrastructure across large sites in England.

It will primarily be aimed at large sites of 1,500 units or more, and Housing Zones, which support the development of brownfield land. Developers will also be able to apply for funding from the Home Building Fund, which is making £3 billion available to house builders.

Additional measures include creating six new Housing Zones to support the development of 10,000 homes on brownfield land, and funding for a new locally-led Garden Town at Otterpool Park, Shepway in Kent which aims to deliver up to 12,000 new homes.

Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, said: "We want to turbo-charge house building on large sites to get the homes built in the places people want to live, so that this country works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

"These sites offer enormous potential to transform brownfield land into new homes and our £18 million funding will help get them built much sooner.

"Furthermore, we are getting behind plans for a new Garden Town which offers a unique opportunity to boost the local economy, jobs and provide new homes in Shepway, Kent."