In his first budget as chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a boost £12bn to the affordable housing programme.
As he unveiled measures to ‘get Britain building’ over the next five years, Sunak claimed it would be the ‘largest investment in affordable housing for a decade’.
He added that 70,000 homes would be built in areas of high demand.
Measures were also unveiled to combat the issue of homelessness; £650m is to be allocated to help rough sleepers, housing 6,000.
Of the news, Ilke Homes executive chairman Dave Sheridan says: “Affordable housing provision cannot be funded by private sector contributions alone and the Chancellor’s multi-billion pound boost for the Affordable Homes Programme is a timely, positive intervention that will benefit the whole market.
“However we cannot continue to rely on traditional methods of delivery if we are to build the quality homes that Britain deserves at speed and scale and the government needs to work with the industry to encourage uptake of modern methods of construction.
“Affordable housing providers such as housing associations and local authorities are uniquely placed to benefit from off-site manufacturing. Reduced build time means they can deliver much needed affordable homes at pace while superior build quality delivers energy efficient homes and reduces maintenance costs.
“In turn, a properly funded affordable housing sector can help the off-site manufacturing industry grow by providing a steady pipeline of work that can support demand even during a downturn when private sector activity is reduced.”
In total, Sunak announced a £600bn boost for the country’s infrastructure, which he declared as the highest investment since 1955.
