Housing Minister Grant Shapps has welcomed the confirmation of £390 million to build over 8,500 homes.

The cash will be used to meet some of the spending commitments made by the previous administration whose funding was reliant on underspending across Whitehall.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander confirmed that four government departments have agreed to reductions in unfunded spending commitments totalling £1.5billion.

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They are: the Department for Education, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Communities and Local Government and the Home Office.

However, £390 million will still be made available to build 4,500 social rented homes, over 3,000 homes for sale at affordable prices and 1,000 stalled by the recession, protecting over 8,000 construction jobs.

Mr Shapps said: "The previous government had a black hole in their housing commitments hundreds of millions of pounds wide. In contrast we are in the business of offering genuine help the country can afford. Today's cash is a real shot in the arm for housebuilders. It means that thousands of new affordable homes will now get built, protecting thousands of jobs in the process."

(CD/KMcA)