The UK Government has revealed it is still aiming to build one million new homes by 2020.

In his speech at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday, 03 October, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid revealed details of a £3 billion Home Builders Fund to get more SMEs building.

In addition, Mr Javid also announced plans to allocate £2bn towards piloting an Accelerated Construction Scheme, which will make Government-owned land available to build on.

He said: "We will take Government-owned land and partner with contractors and investors to speed up housebuilding. We will create new supply chains using offsite construction. And we will encourage new models of building to make houses that people want, more cheaply and at pace. 

"These measures will allow us to get started on 15,000 homes by 2020. We will get more homes built, more quickly."

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The Government also plans to bring forward measures to encourage urban regeneration and development on brownfield land.

Mr Javid said: "We want to radically increase brownfield development and bring life back to abandoned sites. That means delivering high quality housing for families, bringing new energy to our high streets and town centres, abandoned shopping centres being transformed into new communities and increasing density of housing around stations to build homes that people want to live in."

Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), welcomed the announcements.

He said: "Even after the huge increases in housing supply over the past few years we are some way short of building the number of homes the country needs. Housebuilders are still stifled by planning delays that prevent them getting on sites and delivering homes more quickly. Efforts to address this and remove some of the many barriers that new entrants face when trying make it into the industry and build new homes will undoubtedly help to boost housing output.

"Most of the big increases in supply in recent years have been driven by the largest house builders who have significantly boosted investment in land and skills. If we are to get to the level of supply required we need to see more players on the pitch. We need to enable small builders to play more of a part as well as facilitating more of a contribution from other sources."

(LM)