£200m 'war chest' for thousands of green homes

Brownfield sites will be targeted by developers for greener homes

Developers will be given money from a £200m fund to get low carbon housing schemes off the ground in the West Midlands.

The money was pledged by the region's mayor Andy Street as part of a new strategy called Homes for the Future.

The funding will be aimed at driving the construction of 12,000 more environmentally-friendly properties, Mr Street said.

The low-carbon homes will also help people save money as they are cheaper and more efficient to heat, he added.

'War chest'

The £200m will be used by developers to obtain former industrial land for up to 12,000 homes, the strategy said.

Exact sites are yet to be identified but Mr Street, who launched the plan in Wolverhampton, described the new money as a war chest.

"We must have a proper plan in place for future house-building in the region," he said.