Councils are being offered the chance to bid for grants of £50,000 to speed up housing schemes.
The Government has made £1.5m available over the next year for housing sites where development has been agreed but where planning issues are causing delays. Backed by a further £1.5m next year, the Department for Communities and Local Government estimates the new funding will support up to 85 housing developments.
Priority will be given to local authorities with large housing schemes and ‘those who can show how they will make each pound go further by enabling faster starts on site’.
Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis said: ‘The challenge is to get work started on sites where development has been agreed as soon as possible.
‘Today’s £3m fund will do just that, getting work started on as many as 85 sites, creating jobs as well as up to 25,000 new homes.’