Chancellor set to unveil affordable homes boost

The chancellor is poised to announce a £3bn boost to the government’s affordable housing programme in his Budget today, Housing Today understands.

The current £9bn programme (AHP) was put in place in 2016 and is due to expire in 2021. Housing Today understands that the Treasury has been making plans to boost the funds available from £9bn to £12bn, although it is not known whether this would be to be spent in the same timeframe.

The Guardian reported today that the £3bn boost is under consideration. A source close to the Treasury separately told Housing Today that as recently as this weekend Rishi Sunak was planning to announce the funding in his Budget statement today.

Funding under the AHP is paid to registered housing associations and developers to build new affordable housing, and administered by the Greater London Authority in the capital and Homes England elsewhere in the country.

However, it is thought that the Budget is likely to have undergone significant revisions in recent days in order to address the likely impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, meaning there is a possibility plans have changed.

The same source said that Sunak was planning to announce a trebling of funding to help those in private housing blocks clad with flammable material, from £200m to £600m. Many owners of apartment blocks have been effectively trapped in accommodation now deemed unsafe but unable to sell, and unable to afford repair work.

It is not thought likely that any extension to this funding would cover blocks clad in flammable material other than the ACM panels used in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment, despite growing concern over materials such as High-Pressure Laminates.

Responding to news of the rumoured AHP boost, Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, said: “Affordable housing provision cannot be funded by private sector contributions alone and the chancellor’s multi-billion pound boost for the affordable homes programme is a timely, positive intervention that will benefit the whole market.

“However, we cannot continue to rely on traditional methods of delivery if we are to build the quality homes that Britain deserves at speed and scale and the government needs to work with the industry to encourage uptake of modern methods of construction.”