Thousands of people will be helped onto the housing ladder as funding worth £8.6bn is allocated across the country today.
Part of the largest single investment in affordable housing in a decade, the Affordable Homes Programme funding will deliver around 119,000 homes, including 57,000 for ownership, 29,600 for social rent and 6,250 affordable rural homes.
Today’s cash injection could support up to 370,000 jobs across the country for homebuilders, SME developers and wider businesses supporting the housebuilding industry, such as electricians and plumbers.
This is expected to generate up to £26bn of other private and public investment.
Around half of the new homes from the £8.6bn funding will be available for affordable home ownership, helping more young people and families to get a foot on the housing ladder.
This follows other government schemes to help first-time buyers into homeownership, including First Homes, offering new homes at a 30% discount on the open market value, and the 95% mortgage guarantee scheme, which helps first-time buyers secure a mortgage with just a 5% deposit.
The funding will also deliver nearly 30,000 homes for social rent, which are typically 50-60% of market prices, providing secure, affordable housing to people who need it most.
It will also deliver new supported housing for some of the most vulnerable, providing much needed homes for older or disabled people with support needs.
Today’s funding allocations mark an important step towards the government’s mission to deliver up to 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s.
Commenting, Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick said:
“Creating more opportunities for home ownership is central to this government. This £9bn funding is a landmark moment for our Affordable Homes Programme and will ensure good quality housing for all as we build back better after the pandemic.
“This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.
“We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure, rented homes, built and managed by reputable providers.”
Today’s funding allocations are taken from the £11.5bn Affordable Housing Programme, which will deliver up to 180,000 new affordable homes should economic conditions allow.
Nearly £5.2bn of the package announced today will be delivered outside London by Homes England, the government body responsible for housing delivery, while the Greater London Authority (GLA) will deliver homes within London.
Nearly 90 new partnerships, made up of councils, housing associations and private providers, successfully bid for their share of programme funding.
CEO of Homes England, Peter Denton added:
“Not only does today’s announcement give our new strategic partners the funding, flexibility and confidence they need to build much needed affordable homes across the country, it also establishes a large network of organisations looking to share their skills and capabilities to expand the affordable housing sector and transform communities.
“By forming strategic partnerships with a wide range of public and private organisations, we are creating the conditions needed for institutional investment to catalyse affordable housing supply, deliver innovative new products, such as First Homes, and in future give local authorities more of the tools they need to plan and act strategically, shaping their communities and building new homes.”
