Chancellor George Osborne will announce increased spending on housing today, saying the government will support private developers and local authorities to encourage the construction of around 400,000 new homes.The announcement is part of Osborne's broader plans for government spending which he is due to unveil later in the day.

The spending review will detail four more years of deep spending cuts in other areas of public spending.

But, in line with promises to increase home ownership made by his Conservative Party before elections earlier this year, Osborne will offer a range of incentives to encourage affordable houses to be built.

"I am clear: in this spending review, we choose housing. Above all, we choose homes that people can buy," he will say according to extracts of his speech released in advance.

Earlier this month, the Bank of England's chief economist said that Britain's housing market was "broken" due to too few new homes being built.

Fleshing out plans announced by Prime Minister David Cameron last month, Osborne will pledge £2.3 billion of government support for private developers with the aim of building 200,000 homes which will be made available to first time buyers at a discount.

He will also provide local authorities and the private sector with £4 billion to increase the number of homes available to buy under the government's shared ownership schemes by 135,000 before 2020/21.

Home ownership has long been a totemic issue for the Conservatives. The opposition Labour Party's new leader Jeremy Corbyn has won support from some voters by promising to do more to help people to buy homes.