As part of the Government’s commitment to undertake the biggest housebuilding push for a generation, £250m has been signed off to build 25,000 new homes. Last month, we wrote about a cross-party report stating that we need to build three million new social homes by 2040.

This latest tranche of funding will help the Government to meet its ambitious house building targets.

Construction Enquirer reported: As part of the big funding package, the Government will invest £157m in critical infrastructure for big schemes in Devon and Cumbria.

The housing infrastructure fund loans will 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, £55m will be spent on road improvements and other infrastructure so that 2,500 homes can be built to the south west of Exeter.

In a separate move, Homes England has struck a deal with the Ministry of Defence to build over 10,000 homes at seven military bases across the country.

Also, in a bid to support local communities facing a shortfall in affordable housing, on 15th February, Housing Minister Kit Malthouse announced that he’ll be boosting funding for community-led social housing, providing an additional £6 million for communities to build more of the homes that their neighbourhoods need.

The Community Led Homes Programme – managed by four leading housing charities – will provide local people with funding to kickstart community-led housing developments that will benefit their neighbourhood.

Funding of up to £10,000 will be provided to groups to cover start-up costs such as legal fees, and a further £3.5 million will be made available to provide technical advice and support to guide communities through the process of building the housing they urgently need.

This is part of a wider package of measures to increase local house building and builds on ongoing Government action to reach the ambitious target of 300,000 properties a year by the mid-2020s.

Housing Minister, Kit Malthouse MP, said:

“Alongside £6 million of funding, the programme will also provide crucial training and advice to local groups, ensuring that we are not just building better homes but also building better communities.”

Head of Community Led Homes, Samantha Jones, said:

“Communities want to play their part in tackling the country’s affordable housing crisis and many are forming community led housing groups to do so. In the next five years the movement will build over 5,000 affordable homes. We’ve created the Community Led Homes programme to help this figure increase further still, and in time, for community led housing to become a mainstream housing option.”

Related feature: House building in Birmingham far exceeds annual targets.