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.
