Chancellor Pledges £3 Billion for 'Affordable Housing'

Chancellor George Osborne announced his latest round of cuts during a Spending Review statement to the House of Commons on 26 June. In terms of housing, the Spending Review includes a Government commitment to a 'significant package' of capital spending on housing amounting to £3 billion - the finer details of which will be set out in a forthcoming document called 'Investing in Britain's Future'. This includes, 'certainty that social rents will increase by CPI plus 1 per cent a year from 2015-16 to 2024-25.' Mr Osborne announced the introduction of a local growth fund, to be distributed through local enterprise partnerships, which may be worth £10 billion over five years.  Read more on the HouseMark website.

£946m Fund to Drive House Building

The government is putting £946 million into a scheme to incentivise house building over four years. The Local Growth white paper published last week confirmed details of funding for the New Homes Bonus scheme. £196 million will be available next year, with £250 million in each of the next three years. Starting in 2011/12 the scheme will match fund the additional council tax for each new home built and property brought back into use for six years after the work is completed. For affordable homes the government will increase payments to 125 per cent of the council tax income. The white paper says the government will publish a consultation with its proposed model for the New Homes Bonus ‘shortly’. Read more on Inside Housing.