Today, Philip Hammond delivered his annual Spring Statement, a mini-budget setting out the country’s financial situation and plans for the year ahead – and it included some key promises for the property market.
Hammond declared that there was “light at the end of the tunnel” after the recent years of austerity, and promised to increase public spending and investment in the future if the financial situation of the country continues to improve. Here are the key points that were made in relation to the UK’s housing sector in the statement:
1. National Productivity Investment Fund
£31bn will be spent on infrastructure, research and development and housing through the NPIF, “taking public investment in our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure in this parliament to its highest sustained level in 40 years.”
2. Housing supply
As the government has previously stipulated, £44bn will go towards increasing the housing supply to 300,000 a year by the mid-2020s. To date, 44 local authorities have bid into the $4.1bn Housing Infrastructure Fund “to unlock homes in areas of high demand”.
3. West Midlands
A deal has been agreed with the West Midlands to provide 215,000 new homes by 2030-31, which will be aided by a £100m grant from the Land Remediation Fund.
4. Financing small builders
The existing Housing Growth Partnership with Lloyds Banking Group will be more than doubled to £220m, which will help to provide additional financing for small builders working to construct the country’s new homes.
5. Affordable homes
In London, 26,000 more affordable homes will be created using an additional £1.7bn of funding, bringing the capital’s total affordable housing delivery up to more than 116,000 by the end of 2021-22. A number of the new homes will also be made available for social rent.
