What comes after the Autumn Budget? It’s time to talk about housing-led regeneration

Given the context for Rachel Reeves’ first Budget as chancellor – stretched public services and infrastructure in desperate need of investment – the additional £500m for affordable housing was well received by the sector.

Any gap in funding for new affordable homes would have meant schemes that are ready to go would face significant delays, taking us even further from the government’s housebuilding target. This new funding is a welcome acknowledgement that building affordable housing matters.

Ahead of the Budget, we shared with the housing minister examples from members around the country of how they could use the additional funding to swiftly move ahead with work that will immeasurably improve the lives and homes of people who have already been waiting decades for their communities to be transformed due to lack of funding.

“This new funding is a welcome acknowledgement that building affordable housing matters”

I know our members are ready to step up and deliver and meet the confidence the government has shown in the sector.

But what comes next? The government has already signalled that it will be developing a housing strategy, and we expect next year’s Spending Review to say more about the long-term funding of affordable housing. The government will need to use every lever it has to build the homes we need to get families out of temporary accommodation and bring down the waiting lists.

But building new homes is only part of the picture, albeit an incredibility important one. In some places, significant regeneration is needed to ensure social housing remains something we are proud of.

Ms Reeves announced new measures to make sure children get the best start in life, including increased funding for breakfast clubs. Ensuring all social homes – not just new ones – are warm, safe and decent, and in communities where families can thrive has to be part of this ambition.

Funding to address challenges like Decent Homes 2 and reaching Energy Performance Certificate Band C and net zero are important, and any new Affordable Homes Programme must include the flexibility introduced into the current programme to allow money to be spent on regenerating existing homes.

“Making proper funding available for housing-led regeneration could be truly transformative. It would allow housing associations to play their part in improving the quality of their homes, estates and communities”

But we would urge the government to be more ambitious than this, and to consider what role housing-led regeneration could play in addressing many of the nation’s challenges Ms Reeves outlined in the Budget, including repairing the fabric of Britain.

Making proper funding available for housing-led regeneration could be truly transformative. It would allow housing associations to play their part in improving the quality of their homes, estates and communities. With the right support, we could also make spaces safer and greener, and improve the quality of life for everyone who lives there.

Making this case will not be easy, but I believe the Budget did create the conditions where we could be more ambitious on regeneration.

With the right examples and insight, we can show that any investment in regeneration will provide long-term economic and social benefits that are felt for decades to come. And that is exactly what we will be doing as PlaceShapers in the run-up to the 2025 Spending Review.

Catherine Ryder, chief executive, PlaceShapers