The Budget will deliver more affordable housing, ensure social
housing is available for those who need it and turbocharge the
delivery of 1.5 million homes as the Chancellor commits to
rebuilding Britain.
A housing package announced today will deliver up to 5,000 new
affordable social homes with £500 million in new funding for the
Affordable Homes Programme - bringing total investment in housing
supply to over £5 billion - and supporting the delivery of 33,000
new homes through £128 million for housing projects across the
country.
Meanwhile, the stock of social housing will be increased through
a new 5-year social housing rent settlement that will give the
sector more long-term certainty on funding and allow them to
invest in tens of thousands of new homes. The existing stock will
also be protected by reducing Right to Buy discounts so that
thousands more council homes remain in the sector.
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
said:
“We need to fix the housing crisis in this country. It's
created a generation locked out of the property market, torn
apart communities and put the brakes on economic growth.
“We are rebuilding Britain by ramping up housebuilding and
delivering the 1.5 million new homes we so badly need”.
Deputy Prime Minister said:
“We have inherited a housing system which is broken, with not
enough homes being built and even fewer that families can
afford.
“This is a further significant step in our plan to get
Britain building again, backing the sector, so they can help us
deliver a social and affordable housing boom, supporting millions
of people up and down the country into a safe, affordable and
decent home they can be proud of.”
The £500 million to deliver thousands of new social and
affordable homes is a top-up to the existing Affordable Homes
Programme and comes ahead of the Government's Housing Strategy
due in the Spring.
The Government will set out details of new investment to succeed
the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review.
This will lay the foundations for the manifesto commitment to
deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable
housebuilding in a generation, and to support councils and
housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater
contribution to affordable housing supply.
It will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and
home-ownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for
Social Rent.
The Government will also consult on a new 5-year social housing
rent settlement, which caps the rents social housing providers
can charge their tenants, to provide the sector with the
certainty it needs to invest in new social housing. The intention
would be for this to increase with Consumer Price Index inflation
figures and an additional 1%. The consultation will also seek
views on other potential options to give greater certainty, such
as providing a 10-year settlement.
These measures to increase affordable housing come alongside
changes to the Right to Buy scheme, which will protect existing
social housing stock to meet housing need and deliver a fairer
and more sustainable scheme.
England's existing social housing supply is depleted every year
by the scheme while also disincentivising councils to build new
social housing.
Discounts will be reduced alongside greater protections for
newly-built social housing and councils will be able to keep 100%
of the receipts generated by a Right to Buy sale. This will
enable councils to scale-up delivery of much needed social
housing whilst still enabling longstanding tenants to buy their
own homes.
The £128 million will support the delivery of new housing
projects – including up to 28,000 new builds currently blocked by
river pollution – cleaning up our rivers in the process - 3,000
energy efficient homes across the country and 2,000 new homes in
North Liverpool.
Meanwhile the £56 million investment at Liverpool Central Docks
will also deliver office, retail, leisure and hotel facilities
alongside the new homes. As well as demonstrating our
brownfield-first approach, it will transform Liverpool's former
docklands into a thriving waterfront neighbourhood.
Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing
Federation, says:
"We strongly welcome the £500m top-up to the affordable homes
programme. This vital injection of funding, which we've been
urgently calling for, will support housing associations to
continue to deliver much needed affordable homes in the immediate
term and prevent a collapse in delivery.
"We share the government's ambition to build 1.5million homes
over this parliament and stand ready to deliver the social homes
needed, which is why we welcome a consultation on a new rent
settlement. This will provide both transparency for
residents and long term certainty and financial stability for
social housing providers. We also support the government's
decision to review right to buy discounts.
"To achieve the affordable homes needed across the country,
alongside this short term top-up, we look forward to a new long
term housing strategy announced at the next spending review,
including a significant boost in funding for social housing."
