The government has outlined plans to extend its “growth point” initiative, while promising that investment in housing regeneration will be steered away from big cities.

The aim of the growth point fund is to stimulate development on specific sites by plugging infrastructure gaps. All the 29 sites designated so far have been in the southern half of England.

The housing green paper has confirmed that the initiative will now be extended, adding 50,000 homes across England.

The paper also includes proposals to rejig the housing market renewal programme.

Cash is to be focused on areas with “deep seated structural” housing market problems, such as east Lancashire and the Potteries in Staffordshire.