The government has launched a new £165m fund to remove the barriers holding back housing and key growth developments across England.

The new Growth and Housing Accelerator Fund will target sites where progress has stalled due to funding constraints, delivering the transport improvements and links needed to get building started.

Launching in the coming weeks, it supports the government’s plan to raise living standards and deliver 1.5 million new homes across England this Parliament.

The new fund forms part of Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3), the government’s £27bn for England’s motorways and major A-roads from 2026 to 2031.

Announced last week, it is designed not just to maintain and renew the existing network, but to ensure England’s roads actively support economic growth, removing the infrastructure barriers that have held back new homes, jobs and investment.

The new Growth and Housing Accelerator Fund will bridge the funding gap for critical transport works to unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing and employment sites.

It will focus on locations on or near to motorways and A-roads across England, ensuring communities can benefit from new homes and the jobs and opportunities that come with them.

National Highways will invite local authorities in the coming weeks to register developments for consideration and publish a rolling programme of funded schemes from the end of 2026/27.

Elliot Shaw, National Highways’ executive director, said: “Reliable roads are crucial to housing developments. They shape where people want to live, where businesses want to invest, and where communities can thrive. This fund will help unlock the transport links needed for new homes and jobs and help the government achieve its ambitions on economic growth.”

The overall RIS3 investment is expected to support around 50,000 jobs across England over the 5-year road period.