Government proposes £49m investment into North East housing scheme

Up to 13,000 new homes in the North East are set to get started as the government has confirmed a £49m investment in local housing projects today (February 1).

Housing secretary, Sajid Javid, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, have announced that eight council-led projects across the North East will receive funding to support local work, making housing developments viable to get more needed homes built.

With the government ‘committed’ to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s, this first wave of funding from the £5bn Housing Infrastructure Fund is part of a comprehensive programme to fix the broken housing market.

Sajid Javid said: “My priority is building the homes this country desperately needs.

“This first wave of investment in projects across the North East will help get up to 13,000 homes off the ground, making a huge difference to communities across the region. This is just one of the ways this government is taking action to get Britain building homes again.”

This latest investment will fund key local infrastructure projects including new roads, cycle paths, flood defences and land remediation work, all necessary ahead of building houses.

Together with the government’s Industrial Strategy, the aim is to provide high quality infrastructure to support economic growth.

Philip Hammond added: “Today marks the first step of the multi-billion pound investment we announced at the Budget to help build the homes our country needs.

“This fund finances vital infrastructure such as roads, schools and bridges, which will kick-start housing development in some of Britain’s highest-demand areas.

“This support will help us meet our ambitious plan of building 300,000 new homes each year and ensure we have enough housing in areas which need it most.”

Projects from Darlington to Northumberland that will receive funding include:

- £4.5m to provide a new link road and provide utility infrastructure at the St George’s Hospital site in Northumberland, which will deliver 875 potential new homes.

- £2.8m delivering a potential 1,200 new homes through upgrading roads as part of the West Park Garden Village in Darlington.

£6.9m aims to unlock 1,579 new homes by improving road junctions and providing new power supply in the Newton Aycliffe Housing Growth Area in County Durham.

The £5bn Housing Infrastructure Fund is a government capital grant programme to help unlock new homes in areas with the greatest housing demand. Funding is awarded to local authorities on a highly competitive basis.

The final funding will be announced from Autumn 2018.

Today’s announcement forms part of the government’s Industrial Strategy which sets out a long term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK.