A STAGGERING £38m will need to be spent on new roads, hospitals, schools and other community facilities for every thousand homes built in Kent and the South East.

Expert planning consultants say a huge cash injection of up to £50bn over two decades could be needed in the region to meet the infrastructure costs.

The conclusions come in a study commissioned by county councils, including Kent County Council, to assess the possible impact of the Government’s house-building targets.

But they also take into account more recent proposals by regional planners to exceed those targets by allowing for 6,000 more homes a year.

The conclusions, published on Monday, make alarming reading and suggest the Government could be under-estimating the scale of investment that might be needed.

Consultants Roger Tym and Partners say investment will be most crucial in water supplies, transport and affordable housing.

More than half of the £38m - £24.1m - will have to be spent on improving transport. The report says many roads in areas like Ashford and the Thames Gateway are already “full up” and higher rail fares and road tolls could be needed.

The report states: “There is specific evidence lack of road capacity in the South East is acting as a brake on new development…the total costs over 20 years range between £12bn and £17.1bn in the South East.”

The report also warns existing plans to improve water supplies are too short term.

It says: “Reservoirs are likely to generate the greatest planning implications and greatest contoversy. Planning will need to take account of the long lead in times required if their absence is not to delay development.”

Consultant Henry Brougham, who worked on the study, said: “On the face of it, there could be a problem in that the existing sources of funding [identified by the Government] may not be enough, but it is difficult to quantify the gaps at this stage.”

* County councillors on KCC’s Conservative cabinet will consider on Monday their response to plans by SEERA – the South East England Regional Assembly - for 720,000 homes to be built in the region over 20 years.