Government unveils £250m housing scheme for UK towns and cities

Around £250m of housing deals will deliver almost 25,000 more homes, according to communities secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP today (February 14).

As part of this, the government will be investing £157m in infrastructure such as building roads and putting natural green space alongside developments.

A new partnership has also been struck by the government’s housing accelerator Homes England to build over 10,000 properties on Ministry of Defence land on seven military bases across the country.

In London, more than 1,500 new homes will be built at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with a £78m loan helping to fund the development.

Communities secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said: “We delivered 222,000 homes last year which is the highest number in a decade, but we must keep upping our game.

“We are invoking the spirit of Britain’s post-war push to build as we strive to hit our target of 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, for the first time since the days of Harold Macmillan.

“The deals struck today will help us build almost 25,000 more homes - which is another symbolic step towards our homebuilding targets.”

Homes England have agreed a partnership with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to develop land being released by the Ministry of Defence.

Over 10,000 homes will be built on seven different sites - with the potential for more surplus army land to be used in the future.

The government also confirmed £157m is to be invested under the Housing Infrastructure Fund in schemes in Devon and Cumbria.

The money could also pay for a new motorway link road between south Carlisle and the M6, unlocking up to 10,000 new homes at St Cuthbert’s Garden Village.

In Devon, £55 million will be spent on road improvements and other infrastructure so that 2,500 homes can be built to the south west of Exeter.