UK Budget: Healey Pledges Over £1 Billion for Social Housing as Housebuilding Slumps

Chancellor John Healey will put more than £1 billion extra into social and affordable housing in Wednesday's Budget, taking the government's 10-year housing programme past £40 billion, as new figures show housebuilding falling sharply. The announcement comes as the National House Building Council reported registrations for new homes dropped 13% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, to 26,231, with affordable and rental registrations down 23% to 7,872.
The Budget package also gives England's mayors and regional leaders more money and power, including £285 million next year as transitional funding, £150 million to build their capacity to manage complex projects, and a new £1.5 billion borrowing facility to be designed with mayors from 2028. Councils will also be helped to borrow at preferential rates to build homes. Healey said his plan would make the most of 'untapped and wasted' potential in English cities and regions.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has long campaigned for devolution, said the move would stop local leaders having to go 'cap in hand' to Westminster for investment. The Treasury said families had been locked out of secure, affordable homes because not enough had been built, and that the Budget would go further on restoring public housing stock. Healey's preparations suffered a blow on Saturday when the Treasury's entrepreneurship adviser Alex Depledge resigned, saying start-ups were treated as a 'sideshow.'
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