Timber groups have welcomed the publishing of government departments’ strategies to show how their formerly-used land and property can deliver more than 50,000 new homes.

Since an initial announcement earlier this year by housing minister Grant Shapps on releasing more land for redevelopment, departments have now identified suitable land and property. This will build on 11,000 housing starts that will be achieved through the release of land owned by the Homes and Communities Agency.

The amount of previously-developed land owned by the public sector is more than twice the size of Leicester and the government believes its development could support as many as 200,000 construction and related jobs.

“This is welcome news and we hope that the Government uses this as an opportunity to ensure these home are sustainable and future proof in line with the UKTFA Fabric First message,” said Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA).

“Any new housebuilding means more timber being sold irrespective of the building method although timber frame is clearly the preferable option,” said John White, chief executive of The Timber Trade Federation.

“However, the problem isn’t building the homes it’s selling them. With mortgage finance difficult to get for first time buyers, particularly with heavy deposit requirements and with low consumer confidence, I think it is unlikely to make much of an impact.

“We have such a huge housing gap we need to build for sure, but the best way to do that is to get some liquidity back into the housing market alongside a comprehensive (not piecemeal) housing programme.”

Housing minister Grant Shapps said he would look to ensure that as much of the public land as possible is available under the government’s Build Now, Pay Later model.

In all, the release of publicly-owned land is expected to lead to up to 100,000 homes being built by 2015.

Meanwhile, David Cameron has pledged to look at reviving the Right to Buy scheme for council homes, with revenue generated funding a new wave of affordable home building, potentially up to 100,000 units.