Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
(): This week's Budget will
set out how the Government will deliver more affordable housing
and ensure social housing is available for those who need it
most.
This will include an immediate one year cash injection of £500
million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which
will deliver up to 5000 new social and affordable homes, bringing
total investment in housing supply in 2025/2026 to over £5
billion. This comes ahead of the multi-year Spending Review next
spring, where the Government will set out details of new
investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.
This new investment 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. England's existing social
housing supply is depleted every year by the scheme while also
disincentivising councils to build new social housing. To address
this, the Chancellor will confirm at Budget that councils will be
able to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy
sales. This will enable councils to scale-up delivery of much
needed social homes whilst still enabling longstanding tenants to
buy their own homes. The Chancellor will also set out how Right
to Buy discounts will be reduced to protect existing social
housing stock to meet housing need, whilst ensuring long-term
tenants can still benefit. This will deliver a fairer and more
sustainable scheme that also presents better value for money for
Councils.
The Chancellor will also confirm at the Budget £128 million of
funding to support the delivery of new housing projects,
comprising of:
- Confirmation of a £56 million investment at Liverpool Central
Docks which is expected to deliver 2,000 homes in North
Liverpool, along with office, retail, leisure, and hotel
facilities. This will transform Liverpool's former dockland into
a thriving waterfront neighbourhood.
- A £25 million investment in a joint venture to establish a
new fund with Muse Places Limited and Pension Insurance
Corporation to deliver 3,000 energy-efficient new homes across
the country, with a target of 100% of these being affordable.
- The confirmation of £47 million to local authorities to
support the delivery of up to 28,000 homes that would otherwise
be stalled due to ‘nutrient neutrality' requirements. This
funding will not only unlock much needed new housing but also
clean up our rivers in the process.
