DCLG backs garden villages housing expansion

The government has announced it will back the first ever garden villages, which have the potential to deliver more than 48,000 homes across England.

In an expansion of the existing garden towns programme, these smaller projects of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes will be aimed at supporting locally-led development. The 14 new garden villages – from Devon to Derbyshire, Cornwall to Cumbria – will have access to a £6 million fund over the next two
financial years to support the delivery of these new projects.

The money will be used to unlock the full capacity of sites, providing funding for additional resources and expertise to accelerate development and avoid delays. The government has also announced its support for three new garden towns in Aylesbury, Taunton and Harlow & Gilston – and a further £1.4 million of funding to support their delivery.

Together with the seven garden towns already announced, the 17 new garden settlements have the combined potential to provide almost 200,000 new homes across the country.

Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell commented: “Locally-led garden towns and villages have enormous potential to deliver the homes that communities need.

“New communities not only deliver homes, they also bring new jobs and facilities and a big boost to local economies. These places combined could provide almost 200,000 homes.”