Social Rented Housing: Construction
(asked on 13th February 2025) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help (a) councils and (b) local authorities deliver more (i) house-building and (ii) social housing.
The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
On 30 July 2024 we announced a number of changes in planning policy designed to support the delivery of affordable homes. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts, and a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to grow their housing stock.
At the Budget on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. The Chancellor also confirmed that we will reduce Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels and allow councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.
On 12 February 2025, the government announced a further cash injection of £300 million to the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 2,800 new homes, with more than half being Social Rent homes. The government also announced a £50 million uplift to the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund.
Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing.
We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.