Spring Statement includes housing boost

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a number of new housing plans in his Spring Statement, including a £1.67 billion funding package for London to build affordable homes.

The £1.67 billion funding package for London will help build 26,000 more of the affordable homes that are desperately needed by working families struggling with the costs of rent. It is hoped that the deal will enable at least 116,000 more affordable homes in London to be built and will bring the total funding for affordable housing in London to £4.8 billion.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The housing crisis is the capital’s biggest challenge and we are still not seeing the level of investment that we need if we want to tackle it head on. We still need more and devolved investment, we need an overhaul of powers to assemble unused land for homes, and we need councils and City Hall to be freed to build many more affordable homes ourselves."

Additionally, £60 million investment was also announced to boost the Housing Growth Partnership fund that supports small and medium sized housebuilders to invest in housing projects and develop their businesses. Lloyds Banking Group have matched the funding to bring the total additional investment to £120 million.

Planning to drive house-building momentum, the Treasury also used the speech to share details of a £100 million funding boost to the West Midlands for a housing package to support the Mayor Andy Street’s ambitious target of delivering 215,000 homes by 2030, equating to nearly 16,000 new homes each year. The Housing Deal includes approval for the £250 million West Midlands bid into the Housing Infrastructure Fund which will move to the next round of development with the government.

Street said: “This funding will see tens of millions of pounds invested to remediate brownfield sites, of which our region has many, to build homes and install the infrastructure required to accommodate growth, helping to relieve pressure on our Green Belt. Crucially, this investment provides funding to deliver the Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village as well as a host of sites in Coventry, Solihull and the Black Country. In total, we aim to build 215,000 new homes by 2031 – a challenging target but one that will make a real difference to people in the West Midlands.”