A multi-billion
pound boost to social housing across England has been confirmed by Secretary of
State for Communities, The Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.
Around 23,000 new
affordable homes will be delivered through a £1.67 billion government
investment deal. This will include at least 12,500 social rent homes in high
cost areas in a move to support families struggling to pay their rent.
Although the
announcement was widely welcomed, many also pointed out that the funding
allocation would not sufficient to make up the significant shortfalls in
housing stock and more still needed to be done.
The move is part of
the government’s £9 billion investment in affordable homes, £1.67 billion of
which was announced in March 2018 for London. This latest funding will deliver
homes across the rest of the country.
Responding to the
Housing Revenue Account borrowing programme prospectus, Cllr Martin Tett,
Local Government Association Housing spokesman, said: “The LGA has been clear
that councils must be given greater freedom to borrow to build desperately-needed
new homes in their local areas and play a leading role in solving our housing
shortage.
"(This)
announcement is a positive step in the right direction towards triggering the
renaissance in council housebuilding that we urgently need to ensure more
affordable, secure and stable homes for everyone.
“The next step for
the Government now is to accept the calls of the LGA and the influential
Treasury Select Committee to scrap the cap on council borrowing in every
community across the country. This would free councils to make the
investment decisions that will boost housebuilding in their local areas
unencumbered from rules and regulations created in Whitehall.
“It is generally
accepted that the country needs to build 300,000 homes a year to keep up with
demand. The last time this country built the amount of homes it needs each
year, councils were responsible for 40 per cent of them.
“For councils to be
able to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes, we
need to see initiatives that support housebuilding in local communities – that
means borrowing to build with no added restrictions, keeping 100 per cent of receipts
from Right to Buy sales and granting greater flexibilities on Right to Buy
discounts to local communities.”
And RIBA President Ben
Derbyshire described the announcement as a welcome boost, and that it was
pleasing to see that progress is being made on delivering new homes for social
rent.
"The Secretary of
State and the Treasury are to be commended for listening to calls for
investment in social housing from across the country – but £1.67 billion
investment to build 23,000 new affordable homes will not solve the UK-wide
problem," he added.
"We know that
investing in thoughtfully designed and well-built new homes is one of the best
long-term investments the public sector can make, but we will only see the
scale of investment we need if Mayors and Councils are given powers to borrow
to build. While we welcome today’s announcement, the stark truth remains that
the housing crisis will not be solved without major direct investment by the
Government, who must release funds for local authorities across the UK.”
The Communities
Secretary also heralded a new generation of council housing by inviting local
authorities to bid for a share of £1 billion extra borrowing to build
much-needed homes. This £1 billion borrowing cap raise will be split equally
between London and the rest of England.
Local authorities
have requested this extra financial flexibility, which will be allocated to
those in areas with the highest affordability pressures to ensure homes are
built where they are needed most.
These new measures
are part of the government’s ambitious plans to build 1.5 million new homes by
2022 through planning reform and targeted investment.
The Rt. Hon James
Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Communities, said: "The government
has ambitious plans to fix the broken housing market and build the homes our
communities need.
"(This)
announcement is a further milestone. It will secure the delivery of an
additional 23,000 much-needed affordable homes as well as paving the way for a
new generation of council houses.
"The majority
of these new homes will be in high cost areas helping to ease the burden of
rent on hard working families and delivering stronger communities."
A bidding process
will now begin for both programmes, with successful bids for the affordable
homes funding notified throughout the year. A list of successful councils who
have had their borrowing caps increased will be announced in due course.
But Lois Lane,
Research and Policy Advisor at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said
rural communities are in danger of being left even further behind and added:
"For those struggling to find a home that they can afford to live in, this
new fund is simply not enough.
"The scale of
the challenge is enormous and this investment will provide only 23,000 new
‘affordable’ homes, of which just 12,500 will be for social rent.
"With more than
one million families on social housing waiting lists in England, this barely
scratches the surface of the problem. We urgently need new social housebuilding
programme that will deliver on a significant scale, with properly proportioned
grant funding for rural areas.’"
CPRE are
calling for:
- further substantial
investment in social housebuilding from the government;
- a proportion of grant funding
for use in rural areas to be ring-fenced in line with the proportion of
the population living there;
- a commitment to for social
housing to be prioritised over market housing.
