TAUNTON will be getting a funding boost of more than half a million pounds to help deliver 13,000 new homes.

As part of its 'garden town' scheme, the government has today pledged £550,000 to Taunton Deane Borough Council after 'decades' of not delivering enough new homes.

A previous £1.135million has already been received to work on proposals.

Across the country, the garden communities project is expected to deliver 200,000 properties on large sites across England by 2050.


READ MORE: Taunton gets garden town status 


Work has already got underway on approximately 2,300 properties. The homes are planned across three major sites around Taunton at Comeytrowe, Staplegrove and Monkton Heathfield.

Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP said: “We have not built enough homes in this country for the last three decades, and we are turning that around as we work towards our target to build 300,000 properties a year by the mid-2020s.

“This funding boost is the next step on the road to delivering 13,000 properties in Taunton.”

The funding will be administered by Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator.

Cllr John Williams, leader of TDBC, welcomed the news, stating the council will 'work to ensure' the rate of housing increases with essential infrastructure.

He added: “This is great news. The council has identified new garden communities which ensure it can demonstrate a long-term deliverable supply of housing land in line with Government policy, and is working to ensure that the rate of housing is balanced with availability of employment land and essential infrastructure.

"There is no doubt that achieving Garden Town status has provided a huge opportunity for us create places people really want to live in.

"This very welcome funding contributes the support we need to deliver the growth aspirations that will make our county town more prosperous in future, and will principally be used to create a number of temporary posts within the organisation to help build our capacity to deliver on our ambitious growth agenda.”