It will become operational later this year and is being set up to attract public and private investment to develop brownfield sites.

The venture is expected to deliver 40,000 new homes over the next 10 years, supporting delivery of building 1.5m homes, as set out in the Government’s Plan for Change.

Significant sites that are in the pipeline for development, include:

• Newcastle Forth Yards: a 100-acre regeneration opportunity which could deliver 5,000 new homes
• Manchester Mayfield: opportunity for 1,500 new homes
• Cambridge: a mixed-use development with 425 homes
• Nottingham: 200 new homes following 348 successfully delivered homes at The Barnum, Nottingham

Alongside the new venture, the Government has formed a new taskforce to promote land release across the wider Government estate.

Unused land will be identified, developed and released by a cross-government collaboration, which will focus on getting unused public land back into productive use as quickly as possible.

An innovative partnership between the Ministry of Defence and Homes England will be the blueprint for a new ‘trailblazer’ approach to accelerate public land release.

This new partnership aims to unlock a further 1,300 homes by partially releasing land at Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell Nottinghamshire.

The Defence Secretary has identified the long-term opportunity to build over 100,000 homes on surplus defence land.

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This work will unlock thousands of new homes on surplus defence land, including in North Yorkshire, Nottingham and Cambridgeshire – developments promised for years by the last government, but never delivered.

“This heralds a new, trailblazer approach to the use of public land which will not be a fire sale of public assets, but a truly cross-government effort to remove blockers, deliver homes and boost growth in support of our Plan for Change.

“This taskforce is a bold first step, as we make the most of an historic opportunity to build over 100,000 homes on surplus defence land in the coming years, delivering on our commitments to British families and our Armed Forces.”