Government to spend £142m on infrastructure improvements

The government has announced it is to spend £142 million on infrastructure improvements to help unlock thousands of new homes.

The money will be spent on widening bridges, building roads and connecting utilities so up to 8,500 properties can be built on two developments.

The first development is in Woking, Surrey, where the government will spend £95 million to build up to 4,500 homes in the town.

The money will pay to widen the Victoria Arch Bridge, to pay for road improvements, buying land and connecting utilities.
The project, which is being delivered by Surrey County Council, is expected to significantly reduce congestion in the area, as well as opening up land for housing.

Minsters will also invest £47 million in new road links in Truro, Cornwall in order to unlock an extra 4,000 homes.

The funding will be spent on a new northern access road, connecting sites from the A390 in the west to the Royal Cornwall Hospital and employment hub in the east.

The spending, under the Housing Infrastructure Fund, is all part of the government’s drive to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

‘For decades, governments of all stripes and types have not built enough new homes but we are turning that around, brick by brick,’ said housing minister, Kit Malthouse.

‘We are driving to create homes, opportunities and thriving communities – and this £142 million investment will mean we can build more of the properties our country so badly needs.

‘We need to keep upping our game and build more, better, faster, if we are to meet our ambition to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.’

Photo by Free-Photos (Pixabay)