A total of £39 million special Exchequer funding is being provided to local authorities under the Government's serviced land initiative for water and sewerage projects designed specifically to open up additional land for housing. A total of 161 projects will be funded under the initiative. Local authorities expect that over 40 of these will commence this year. The serviced land initiative is a special measure to supplement the main water and sewerage investment programme which is at the highest level ever at almost £185 million in 1998, and is being increased further to £268 million in 1999.
Funding under the serviced land initiative is being provided at a rate of 40 per cent of cost, with the balance being provided by local authorities, primarily through development levies, resulting in total investment of about £100 million. It is estimated that this investment will result in the servicing of sites for an additional 100,000 housing units. In addition, £5 million special Exchequer funding is being provided for road access to open up land for housing.