Last week the Chancellor presented his Autumn Statement to Parliament. The statement included the announcement of the introduction of a National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF)
The NPIF will provide additional funding in areas that the Government consider are key to boosting productivity. An average of around £5 billion a year between 2017/18 and 2021/22 will be made available to fund the following areas – transport, digital communications, research and development and housing.
In relation to transport the NPIF includes the following funding;
- £1.1 billion to reduce congestion and upgrade local roads and public transport,
- £220 million to tackle road safety and congestion on Highways England roads,
- £27 million to develop an expressway connecting Oxford and Cambridge.
The NPIF includes £2.3 billion for a new Housing Infrastructure Fund. The fund will be used for projects such as roads and water connections that will support the construction of up to 100,000 new homes. A further £1.4 billion will be used to provide 40,000 new affordable homes and the Government have identified another £1.7 billion that will be used to speed up the construction of new homes on public sector land.
Linked to the Housing Infrastructure Fund the Government have announced that a Housing White Paper will be published shortly setting out a package of measure which will aim to increase housing supply and address the decline in housing affordability.
For more details on the Chancellors Autumn statement please contact Chapman Lily Planning.