The U.K. government has said it will provide £600 million ($734 million) in funding for infrastructure that will support the construction of 50,000 new houses in England.
The capital will come from the Housing Infrastructure fund (HIF), a government capital grant program of up to £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) that was created to finance the physical infrastructure needed to build 100,000 homes in England, according to a document outlining the fund.
“I want to see more homes built in the places people want to live, so more people realize the dream of home ownership,” said Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, who launched the fund. “But we need the roads, rail links and schools to support the families living in those homes, which is why I set up a fund to put in place the infrastructure to unlock new homes in these areas.”
Since it was launched, £1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) has been used to deliver 76,500 homes, according to Property Wire. The latest investment will be used to deliver five new infrastructure projects in London, central Bedfordshire and Essex — areas of high demand for new housing.
“To build more, we need to provide the infrastructure and public services to match,” said Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick. “This package will support existing communities and ensure they receive the roads and schools to sustain the homes being built.”
He added, “While there are many sites all over the country that could be used for new housing projects, many lack the infrastructure needed to make building homes on them viable. This can be because they lack the roads, rail links or schools required to unlock new development.”
The primary goals of the fund are to deliver new physical infrastructure, make more land available for housing in high-demand areas, and support local authorities who want to increase plans for growth, while enabling them to recycle funding from other infrastructure schemes.
The fund provides both marginal viability funding and forward-funding streams.
