Fenland District Council has won a £224,000 grant from the Government to “turbo charge” house building in Wisbech.

The council submitted a bid to the ‘capacity fund’ announced by the Government last November and is one of 98 local authorities to win a share of the £16.5 million round of funding.

Housing minister Gavin Barwell said: “We want to turbo-charge house building on large sites to get the homes built in the places people want to live, so that this country works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

“These sites offer enormous potential to transform brownfield land into new homes and our funding will help get them built much sooner.”

Fenland Council says it will use the cash to help accelerate the delivery of about 2,500 new homes over the next decade on sites already allocated in east, south and west Wisbech.

It will also fund further studies that are needed to take the Wisbech Garden Town proposal forward. That has the potential to bring an additional 12,000 homes, along with important rail and road upgrades improving connections to Cambridge and Peterborough.

A team of advisors will now be commissioned to encourage and secure the building of a large number of homes at the existing site allocations over the next five years and secure outline approval for the garden town.

Council leader John Clark said: “This funding is further proof of the growing support for our plans for the development of the whole Wisbech area.

“The accelerated delivery of new homes on these allocated sites and the proposed garden town will have significant benefits for the whole area. It will help the Government meet its own housing targets and relieve the pressure on the overheated Cambridge market.

“At the same time it helps us take another step along the road towards the development of a Garden Town that we believe has the potential to transform the whole town and the lives of people in Wisbech over the coming decades.”

Mr Barwell said: “Through this multi-million pound investment, we’re giving councils the tools they need to tackle delays and get builders on site much faster.”