The government has announced a raft of measures to accelerate house building on larger-scale sites.
They include a new £18m funding pot to accelerate house building on large sites. Councils can now bid for a share of a “capacity fund”, which the government said would address planning issues that cause delays for house builders.
The fund will primarily be aimed at sites of 1,500 units or more, with the money set to speed up delivery of up to 800,000 homes and infrastructure across large sites in England.
Six more Housing Zones have also been created, which the government said would help deliver almost 10,000 new homes on brownfield land. All are eligible for capacity funding.
The zones are: Sheffield Housing Zone, South Yorkshire; North East Lincolnshire Urban Housing Zone, with sites in Grimsby and Cleethorpes; Hoyland-Wombwell Strategic Housing Zone, Barnsley, South Yorkshire; Sandwell Housing Zone, Sandwell, West Midlands; Pennine-Lancashire Housing Zone, with sites in Blackburn and Burnley; Wirral Waters Housing Zone, Merseyside.
It has also revealed that it would support and fund a new Garden Town at Otterpool Park in Shepway, Kent, set to be built on previously developed land and public sector land and deliver up to 12,000 new homes.
Developers will also be able to apply for funding through the recently announced £3bn Home Building Fund.
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 £18m 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.”
