UK government provides funding towards new garden settlements in Oxfordshire and Essex

In a statement released last week, the Department for Communities and Local Government said the money would kick-start work on plans for 15,000 new homes in Greater Didcot Garden Town and up to 35,000 homes in North Essex.

South Oxfordshire Council and Vale of the White Horse Council made a successful joint bid for Didcot to become the third town, after Ebbsfleet and Bicester, to receive garden town status. The councils said in a statement that they plan to "bring forward new mixed neighbourhoods of between 200 and 3,000 homes" with "a strong focus on sustainability and green space".

According to a statement on Tendring District Council's (TDC) website, TDC, Colchester Borough Council, Braintree District Council and Essex County Council will use their funding allocation to "explore the feasibility of garden communities in North Essex".

Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis said: "I've been really impressed by the level of ambition and vision shown by Didcot and North Essex and their determination to deliver new sustainable communities. We are determined to support communities that are eager to boost the number of homes in their areas to meet local need and this money will help get work up and running quicker."

Planning expert Matthew Fox of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "Announced alongside the progress of the Housing and Planning Bill and the press onslaught of the Help to Buy ISA, this package of funding shows that the government is seeking to keep its focus on the home ownership agenda."

"The proposals to be developed here are interesting in their disparity – Greater Didcot Garden Town being a locally led focused development in one place, whereas the North Essex proposals are spread across vast swathes of North Essex – the role of the County Council here will be particularly crucial. Given that the government announced the Garden Town agenda as requiring ‘robust delivery arrangements’, this area will be particularly interesting to watch. Given the vague nature of these proposals, it does lead to questions as to how popular the ‘Garden Cities’ initiative really is for local authorities," Fox said.