The Government has confirmed a series of measures to boost housebuilding in the Budget, including £1.5bn in additional funding for social and affordable homes, greater spending powers for regional mayors and a new equity-loan scheme for first-time buyers.
The additional £1.5bn for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) brings total investment to more than £40bn over 10 years. The funding is expected to support the delivery of around 10,000 additional social and affordable homes in England, with priority given to Social Rent and council housing.
Regional mayors and areas progressing towards devolution will receive additional funding, giving local leaders greater flexibility over spending priorities, including housing, infrastructure and regeneration.
In a further measure aimed at boosting development, qualifying residential schemes on brownfield sites of up to 1.5 hectares are set to be exempt from mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements.
The Budget also confirmed £4.7bn for the Your First Home scheme, designed to help around 70,000 first-time buyers and support an estimated 20,000 new homes. Eligible buyers will be able to purchase qualifying new-build properties with a deposit of at least 2.5%, supported by a government equity loan of 20%, which will be interest-free for the first five years.
The measures are intended to support housing delivery, improve development viability and help more first-time buyers access homeownership.
There has been a mixed response within the industry to the Budget announcements.
Paul Turner, chief executive officer at the National House Building Council, said; ”News that government has added £1.5bn to the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) in the Budget is great news for the sector, given how oversubscribed the first round of bidding was earlier in the year. The wider industry is stretched, with demand for affordable housing at record levels and NHBC’s Q3 registration figures showing the pipeline of new homes continues to shrink. With new home registrations down 13% year on year, this kind of intervention is essential.”
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, commented: “The ‘Your First Home’ scheme to help first time buyers could strengthen demand for new homes but has a minor impact on smaller house builders. If the Government wants more regional growth, it must ensure local SME house builders can share in the opportunities created by any increase in housing demand.”
Richard Beal, chief executive of regional housebuilder Beal Homes, said: “There is no shortage of young people who want to buy their first home. What’s been missing is a realistic way for many of them to do it. The Budget confirmation of the introduction of the Your First Home scheme can close that gap and support many thousands of young people to take their first step onto the housing ladder. That’s why we welcome Your First Home.”