£600m housing boost for London, Bedfordshire and Essex

The chancellor, Sajid Javid, has announced over £600m funding for up to 50,000 new homes and infrastructure for five projects in London, Bedfordshire and Essex.

The funding will be made available through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), originally launched by the chancellor when he was previously secretary of state for Communities and Local Government. 

The government says the £600m is designed to support local authorities that want to step up their plans to increase the overall housing supply, make more land available for housing, and deliver new physical infrastructure that supports new and existing communities.

The five specific projects announced by the chancellor are:

• £218m for the Beaulieu Station and North-East bypass bid from Essex County Council to deliver a new train station and road improvements to unlock up to 14,000 homes;
• £156m for the Meridian Water bid from Enfield to deliver rail works, road infrastructure, land remediation, flood alleviation and utilities to unlock up to 10,000 homes;
• £99.9m for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community bid from Essex County Council to deliver a new single carriageway link road and works to unlock up to 7,500 homes;
• £69.6m for the Transformational Growth in Biggleswade bid from Central Bedfordshire to deliver a new secondary school and transport infrastructure to unlock up to 3,000 homes;
• £80.8m for the East London Line – Growth Capacity bid from the GLA to deliver transport upgrades to unlock up to 14,000 homes;

Sajid Javid, chancellor, said: “I want to see more homes built in the places people want to live, so more people realise the dream of home ownership. 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.”

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said: “To build more, we need to provide the infrastructure and public services to match. This package will support existing communities and ensure they receive the roads and schools to sustain the homes being built.”