A scheme to help get more families across England into affordable homes has been extended by a year, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today
A scheme to help get more families across England into affordable homes has been extended by a year, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today.
Following unavoidable delays in the construction industry due to coronavirus, it is estimated that the building of 53,000 new affordable homes have stalled. The Government is stepping in to safeguard funding and make sure these much-needed homes are not lost altogether, extending the current Affordable Homes Programme until March 2023.
Homes to be built under the Government’s £9 billion scheme originally needed shovels to be in the ground by March 2022. However, today’s announcement means that housing associations and councils have a year longer to begin building these homes while still receiving Government support, giving them the flexibility and certainty they need to keep building across the country.
The announcement follows confirmation last week that the new £12 billion Affordable Homes Programme – which will start next year – will support up to 180,000 new affordable homes, including for shared ownership and social rent. The programme will lead to a further £38 billion in public and private investment in affordable housing.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
More than 1.5 million new homes have been delivered since 2010, including more than 460,000 affordable homes.
This follows the announcement last week of a package of measures to support home building across England, including: