Milton Keynes expansion gets £50m for road links

Milton Keynes is to receive £50m to improve road links supporting the city's expansion.

The city council said the money would help unlock 5,500 homes and that new roads would also improve access to land earmarked for future growth.

The leader of the council said the money would help ensure infrastructure was "provided alongside new homes, not years afterwards".

The project has already received £94.6m from the government's Housing Infrastructure Fund, which has funded a primary school, road improvements and a community health hub.

The school and the hub are expected to open next year.

The Milton Keynes East expansion, approved in 2022, will include 40 hectares (99 acres) of employment land as well as 5,500 homes.

Jane Carr, the Liberal Democrat leader of Milton Keynes City Council, said: "People rightly expect roads, schools and healthcare facilities to be provided alongside new homes, not years afterwards.

"This additional £50 million investment will help ensure Milton Keynes continues to grow in the right way, with the infrastructure needed to support new communities from the outset."

She added that the "quality of life that makes Milton Keynes such a great place to live" would be maintained.

Stephen Kirwan, from the lead developers, Berkeley, said its partnership with the council "is on course to deliver 5,500 private and affordable homes, a 160-acre country park and a mix of community amenities.

"We are also delivering over 4,000 new jobs within the 4 million sq ft strategic industrial hub on the southern part of the site."

Analysis: Will infrastructure appear alongside homes?

The promise that infrastructure will be built alongside new homes is often one of the key issues for existing and future residents.

But many people will reserve judgement until construction is further advanced.

Developments elsewhere have become more expensive than expected and homes have sometimes sold more slowly than forecast, leading to changes in infrastructure plans.

There have also been cases where proposed schools were scrapped because fewer families moved into an area than anticipated.

In Milton Keynes East, however, both the school and health hub are already visible on the site, giving residents reason to be cautiously optimistic that those facilities will open as planned.

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