The managing director of North East property builders Adderstone Living has hailed the Chancellor’s announcement of an extra £2bn in grant funding for the development of affordable housing.
Intended as a ’bridge’ between the current programme and future grant to be announced in June, the move is seen as ‘another positive step’ by Stephen McCoy, who has welcomed the decision alongside the wider sector.
The chancellor has said the latest funding top-up will deliver 18,000 new homes for affordable tenures with the schemes due to complete by the end of the parliament, thereby contributing to the government’s 1.5m homes target.
The £2bn will be available on the same terms as the 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme, but providers will have until March 2027 to start construction on the homes.
The government said the funding is intended to be a ‘down payment’ or ‘bridge’ between the current £11.5bn 2021-2026 programme and a new grant funding scheme scheduled to be announced on 11 June in the spending review.
Stephen said that while the target of building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years remains ‘highly ambitious’, the Chancellor’s pledge again reflects the Government’s commitment to addressing the national housing shortage.
He said: “The UK desperately needs more homes and the associated housebuilding activity, so the funding boost needs to be supported by the sector, which indeed it is. It will help to unlock the provision of more much-needed affordable homes, and create jobs and economic growth across the North East and wider UK.”
Adderstone Living currently has a number of ‘oven ready’ schemes that will deliver hundreds of new affordable homes and will benefit from a funding boost.
“We are committed to delivering high quality, affordable and attractive affordable accommodation for social housing providers across locations in the North of England that meet varying levels of need,” added Stephen McCoy. “This sees us delivering homes that enable people to continue to live as independently as possible in the community.
“This extra money is a welcome contribution to affordable house builders’ strategies; helping to maintain momentum in the delivery of much needed social and affordable housing ahead of the new Affordable Homes Programme being announced at the Spending Review.”