The Chancellor set out plans to give smaller house builders access to a £500m fund to stimulate small local projects.

The finance pot formed part of a set of measures that George Osborne claimed would support building of 200,000 new homes.

Until now Government guarantee schemes were limited to support for major infrastructure projects being developed by major house builders.

In 1988 two-thirds of all new homes were built by small and medium sized builders, but that figure now stands at less than a third.

The Builders Finance Fund hopes to galvanise local housing projects with  loans to smaller housing developers.

It estimated that the fund will unlock 15,000 housing units stalled due to difficulty in accessing finance.

He said that the Government would also back three vast housing schemes: a garden city at Ebbsfleet, and schemes at Barking and Brent Cross to help get Britain building again.

He reiterated plans to extend Help to Buy to 2020, supporting construction of an estimated 120,000 new homes.

Osborne said the second element of Help to Buy, the mortgage guarantee for buyers, will now run until 2016.

“Taken all together, the housing policies I announce today will support over 200,000 new homes for families. We’re getting Britain building.” said Osborne.