Housing Minister Mark Prisk visited the new community of Cranbrook in East Devon to announce £20m of Government investment in the project and see first-hand how a partnership approach to development is reaping impressive results.

He announced a package of support to further accelerate the building of new homes in Cranbrook. Of this new investment, £6m will be used to deliver the roads and infrastructure needed to develop a new town centre, with the remaining funds supporting the construction of a new secondary school and a second primary school as part of the next phase of Cranbrook’s development. This investment in infrastructure is expected to accelerate the pace of the delivery of new homes from 300 a year to up to 500.

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The Minister, a chartered surveyor by profession and who worked in property and economic development before entering politics, is taking a keen interest in the progress that Phase 1 is making just 18 months after work started at Cranbrook.

Confirmation of the investment has been warmly welcomed by partners working to deliver the new community of around 6,500 homes and associated community, education and transport facilities.

Mr Prisk said: "This Government is serious about building more homes. That’s why we have been looking carefully at how we can accelerate large, planned housing schemes that already have the support of local people, but need help to move forward in the current economic climate. So I'm delighted that today I can announce our intervention will help unlock the delivery of over 6,000 new homes in Cranbrook, and create thousands of jobs for local people. In the months ahead I will be announcing support for similar schemes. That means more investment, more jobs for our young people and more affordable homes for families across the country. We have set aside considerable funding to assist large housing programmes like Cranbrook, and I would urge anyone with similar proposals to come forward and contact my department."

(CD)