This week, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered the first budget by the Labour government in over 14 years. Including considerable commitments to spending in the Housing sector.
The Labour government had previously outlined an ambitious plan to build 370,000 new homes each year of their term, resulting in over 1.5 Million new homes throughout the UK. In the budget, Labour committed to £5Bn in order to deliver their housing targets for next year.
Alongside that, the government also announced an increase of £500m to the Affordable Homes Programme, bringing the total investment up to £3.1Bn. With the aim of boosting the supply of affordable homes by an additional 5,000.
Other commitments in the Autumn budget included investments in various UK sites to build additional homes, including Liverpool Central Docks, with plans to build an additional 2,000 new homes.
The budget also mentioned a reduction in "Right-To-Buy" discounts and the ability for Local Authorities to retain full receipts from any sale of Social Housing. A Social Housing Rent Settlement of 'CPI + 1%' for the next five years, and a commitment from the government to train and hire 'hundreds' of additional planning officers.
Lastly, off the back of the Grenfell report released a few weeks ago, the government affirmed their pledge to tackle dangerous cladding still left in high-rise buildings, by committing £1Bn to speed up the work.
David Siddals, Chief Operating Officer at Lumensol, shared his thoughts on Labour's Autumn budget announcements.
"We all know that the housing crisis can only be addressed by longer term change, and improved funding commitments from the government is a key part of this.
The Rent Settlement provides some security for business planning and will hopefully enable - at least in the short and medium term - investment planning to be more predictable.
The increased investment for the Affordable Homes Programme, training and hiring more Planning Officers to speed up the process, and - importantly - the funding provided to speed up the vital removal of dangerous cladding are all much needed and welcome commitments.
My only question is...is it enough? Only time will tell.
While this budget includes many promising assurances, we are all aware that addressing and fixing the housing crisis is not something that can happen overnight, and requires a long term commitment from the government."