The government has handed its over-subscribed Get Britain Building fund an additional ￡150 million to get stalled housing schemes up and running.

Yesterday it said more than 200 schemes would now benefit from the initiative, chosen from a longlist of 392, which the prime minister launched last autumn.

An initial 18 schemes covering 1,300 homes had already been told they were in line for ￡46 million. In all, the government will spend ￡570 million on the fund,

which it hopes will see 15,500 homes built by December 2014.

The Homes and Communities Agency is running the scheme, whereby it makes a series of loans or takes equity stakes in projects that have to be paid back by March

2018. The agency said the projects to benefit ranged from 25 homes to 300.

Among the architects to benefit is Grid, working on the 189-home Marine Wharf development in Lewisham, south-east London, and Sheppard Robson which has drawn

up plans for the 200-plus home Finzels Reach scheme in the middle of Bristol.

Successful projects will have to complete due diligence over the next month before being formally given the money. Housing minister Grant Shapps added: “Already

some of our key sites are on track to get started next month, and many more of the 224 projects shortlisted will be up and running from June.”

The announcement came as David Cameron said the upcoming reform of the country’s planning laws was needed to allow more homes to be built to meet national

shortages.

The move has angered some who claim the country’s green belt is under attack from house builders. But Cameron said he wanted more garden cities to be built and

added: “We absolutely must protect our green belts and national parks, but we also urgently need to find places where we are prepared to allow significant new growth

to happen.”