The government hopes that allowing housing associations to charge higher rents will lead to more new homes built with less subsidy. But many in the sector think it will have exactly the opposite effect. Buried in last week’s construction economy predictions from the Construction Products Association and Experian were some pretty scary numbers for those working in affordable housing. The CPA thinks just 65,100 publicly funded social homes will be built between 2011 and 2013, compared with about 100,000 in the last three years. According to Experian, the annual volume of business will fall by about 40%, to £2.6bn, a level lower than any since the middle of the last decade. This pessimism is a response to the 60% annual cut in funding for social housing, but is also a sign of how much the government will have to incentivise the private sector to supply affordable homes if it is to get close to its target of building up to 150,000 social homes between now and 2015. Some, though, think even the Experian and CPA forecasts - let alone the government’s predictions - are optimistic. Read more on the Building website.
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