Rayner pledges additional £350m to tackle housing crisis
More than 3,000 homes could be delivered as a result of a £300m boost to the Affordable Homes Programme and £50m for the Local Authority Housing Fund.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the funding would help some of the most vulnerable in society, including the 123,000 families currently in temporary accommodation.
“For so many families, and their children, the security and safety of a home of their own remains firmly out of reach – and instead they have to live in temporary accommodation, including in B&Bs,” she said.
“This is unacceptable and is the result of the housing crisis we are facing head on. That’s why we’re driving forward on our plans to ensure a better future for everyone who needs a safe home, building on our plans to drive up living standards and build 1.5m homes through our Plan for Change.”
Up to 2,800 extra homes could be built thanks to a £300m boost to the Affordable Homes Programme – which provides grant funding for new affordable homes – with half of these homes for social rent.
More than 250 council homes could be brought forward through a £50m boost to the Local Authority Housing Fund – a capital fund that allows councils to buy and build homes – to provide better quality temporary accommodation.
Alongside the £50m increase to the Local Authority Housing Fund, £30m of funding is being reallocated from previous rounds, the government said.
Councils that submitted applications will be contacted in the following days to inform them of the funding allocations.
As well as cash to be spent delivering homes, the government intends to set out steps to “crack down on exploitative behaviour by rogue and criminal supported housing landlords” in places like Blackpool, Hull, and Blackburn through a new licencing scheme.
Any money is welcomed but this translates to just £10k per plot. It’s not enough (especially on brownfield). Rayner would have been better focusing this money on less homes.
By Heritage Action
Wonderful, and where is the extra cash coming from to support this – more taxes on an already beleaguered public , and where are the planning reforms to speed up the application process, and where are the additional skilled staff coming from to build these, I don’t want to sound defeatist but have they any clue as to what is actually happening out there?
By Anonymous
As someone who works for a Housing Association in development, what absolute tosh this is, all Angela and labour have done is completely stop us building any houses for the foreseeable.
By Realist
Thats great although it also shows the scale of what’s needed from a new Affordable Homes Programme. If they built 1/3 of the 1.5m homes target as affordable homes this would suggest £50bn is needed.
By C Attlee
Do local authorities have the personnel and logistics to start building houses?
By Anonymous
We need to get real, and start bringing in far more institutional funding into affordable housing instead of a total reliance on grant.
By Anonymous
Labours over ambitious house building progra.me
It’s is very unlikely that the house building targets set by the Labour Party will ever be built. There are not enough qualified tradesmen including ground workers ,brick layers ,joiners, plasterers , plumbers,electricians to carryout the building work.The UK can no longer bring in skilled workers from places such as Poland to fill the skilled worker shortages.
Because the Building Regulations are now so complex regarding house energy efficiency with high specification insulation and electric heat pumps etc it increases the building costs so in reality homes will not be affordable say for a couple both earning the minimum wage .
Also where will all the materials be sourced from if the UK cannot manufacture them.It looks like imported building materials manufactured in China will be the main provider.If you look at the balance of trade between the UK and China for building materials it is massive so China will benefit immensely over the next five years or more.
Sorry but the Labour Government’s politicians Don,t have a clue how the building industry works.
Name and address can be provided.
By Paul Griffiths
No Brainer is all about the optics.
By Anonymous