Thousands of people will be helped onto the housing ladder as
funding worth £8.6 billion is allocated across the country
today.
Part of the largest single investment in affordable housing in a
decade, the Affordable Homes Programme funding will
deliver around 119,000 homes, including 57,000 for ownership,
29,600 for social rent and 6,250 affordable rural homes.
Today’s cash injection could support up to 370,000 jobs across
the country for homebuilders, SME developers, and wider
businesses supporting the house building industry such
as electricians and plumbers. This is expected to generate up to
£26 billion of other private and public investment.
Around half of the new homes from this £8.6 billion funding will
be available for affordable home ownership, helping even more
young people and families to get a foot on the housing
ladder. This follows other Government schemes to help first-time
buyers into homeownership including First Homes, offering new
homes at a 30% discount on the open market value, and the 95%
mortgage guarantee scheme, which helps first-time buyers secure a
mortgage with just a 5% deposit.
The funding will also deliver nearly 30,000 homes for Social
Rent, which are typically 50 to 60% of market prices, providing
secure, affordable housing to people who need it most. It will
also deliver new supported housing for some of the most
vulnerable, providing much needed homes for older or disabled
people with support needs.
Today’s funding allocations mark an important step towards the
Government’s mission to deliver up to 300,000 new homes a year by
the mid-2020s.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said:
“Creating more opportunities for home ownership is central to
this Government. This £9 billion funding is a landmark moment for
our Affordable Homes Programme and will ensure good quality
housing for all as we build back better after the pandemic.
“This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a
home a reality for families by making it realistic and
affordable.
“We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are
built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the
lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure, rented homes,
built and managed by reputable providers.”
Today’s funding allocations are taken from the £11.5billion
Affordable Housing Programme which will deliver up to 180,000 new
affordable homes should economic conditions allow.
Nearly £5.2 billion of the package announced today will be
delivered outside London by Homes England, the government body
responsible for housing delivery. The Greater London Authority
(GLA) will deliver homes within London.
Nearly 90 new partnerships - made up of councils, housing
associations and private providers - successfully bid for their
share of programme funding.
CEO of Homes England Peter Denton said:
“Not only does today’s announcement give our new Strategic
Partners the funding, flexibility, and confidence they need to
build much needed affordable homes across the country, it also
establishes a large network of organisations looking to share
their skills and capabilities to expand the affordable housing
sector and transform communities.
“By forming Strategic Partnerships with a wide range of public
and private organisations, we are creating the conditions needed
for institutional investment to catalyse affordable housing
supply, deliver innovative new products such as First Homes and
in future give local authorities more of the tools they need to
plan and act strategically, shaping their communities and
building new homes.”
Executive Director of Public Impact at National Housing
Federation, Rhys Moore said:
“We welcome the announcement of the new strategic partners and
are looking forward to supporting our housing association
members, Homes England and the GLA to deliver the much needed
affordable homes the country needs, including thousands of new
homes for social rent for people on the lowest incomes.
“Importantly, this long-term certainty over funding will unlock
additional opportunities which will enable housing associations
to deliver even more homes.”
Notes to editors:
- Since 2010, the Government has delivered over 542,400 new
affordable homes.
- The new Affordable Homes Programme will deliver more than
double the social rent than the current programme, with around
32,000 social rent homes due to be delivered.
- Approximately half of the homes delivered will be for
affordable home ownership, supporting aspiring homeowners to take
their first step onto the housing ladder.
- The Government’s ‘Own Your Home’ campaign showcases the range
of flexible home ownership options available.
- First-time buyers can find the right scheme for them via
the Own Your Home
website which provides a single gateway for all routes to
home ownership.
