Housing development to help finance school places

New Department for Education guidance will support local authorities to negotiate what funding and land is required from housing developers for new schools and school expansions.

By encouraging housing developers to fund the school places their developments create, the government plans to emphasise that new schools should be built at the right time, so that places are available for the children who need them, when they need them.

Developers already contribute to the cost of new infrastructure, including schools, but council requirements vary around the country. The new guidance will support local authorities to secure vital funding where development puts pressure on school places, outlining where developments mean new schools are necessary local authorities can seek both funding for construction and for suitable land to be set aside.

Schools Minister Lord Agnew, said: “It isn’t enough for developers simply to build houses; we need to build communities. Schools are at the centre of any community and that’s why it’s vital that developers contribute to the cost of the school places they create. This government is already undertaking a huge expansion in school places, with one million new places on track to be created this decade. But schools can still find themselves under pressure from new housing developments, and where they do it’s right that where appropriate developers support these costs.”