House hunters will be encouraged to invest in the regeneration of the dilapidated Grahame Park estate with a £5million cash pot from Barnet Council.

The authority has promised the subsidies along with another £5million to “spruce up” roads and infrastructure in what it describes as a “priority regeneration area”.

Fewer flats than expected have been sold within the regeneration project, holding up plans to build 10,000 homes over the next 15 years in the Colindale area.

The council has pledged the latest investment to encourage people onto the housing ladder and kick-start the sale of 400 flats, due to be built as part of the project.

However, the cash will only be used if match funding is provided by central government, a pledge the coalition is yet to make.

Council leader Richard Cornelius said: “The sales of the units haven’t been there and so we have offered to underwrite some of the flats. We have sold a lot of units, it just hasn’t been enough.

“It is essentially a sum of money the council is loaning would-be purchasers. We‘re going to get the money back when they sell them or some other time down the line.

“We’re fairly confident the government will provide the match funding – had we not have put this money up we would be getting nothing at all.”

Plans for the road and infrastructure cash include the widening and redesigning part of Colindale Avenue to improve the pedestrian route through Grahame Park Way, down to Colindale Tube Station.

A land swap with Barnet College has also been proposed, potentially making space available for a new primary school, college building and public library within the development at Lanacre Avenue.

Councillor Cornelius added: “I think it is very important. It is a very isolated part of the borough – it’s like a fortress – and by opening it up it will be better for the residents of Colindale.

“There is a lot of land down there and there is scope to build a lot of homes. London needs homes, Barnet needs home so let’s get on with it.”