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Budget 2020: the key housing measures at a glance
A summary of the housing-related measures announced by the chancellor today. Picture: Getty
The key housing-related measures announced today:
- A new Affordable Homes Programme of £12bn
- A £1bn Building Safety Fund to remove unsafe cladding from buildings
- £650m of funding to help rough sleepers into permanent accommodation
- £400m for ambitious regional mayors to build homes on brownfield sites
- Promise to announce measures to change the planning system tomorrow
- A 1% cut on the Public Works Loan Board interest rate, used by local authorities to fund housebuilding
- A temporary removal of the minimum income floor (which calculates assumed earnings for self-employed people) in Universal Credit as part of the government’s response to coronavirus
- £200m for communities in areas that repeatedly experience flooding
By topic
Development: The new Affordable Homes Programme gets a £12bn multi-year settlement. Interest rates for loans from the Public Works Loan Board, which are used by councils for housebuilding, will be cut by 1%, making £1bn available. The government will also consult on the future of the PWLB. A total of £1.1bn of new allocations through the Housing Infrastructure Fund have been confirmed, to open up 70,000 homes in areas of high demand across country. There will be a new £400m fund for regions to build on brownfield sites. The housing secretary is expected to put forward comprehensive reforms for planning tomorrow.
Homelessness: A new £650m fund will help move rough sleepers into temporary accommodation. Mr Sunak says this will fund 6,000 places.
Climate: The government pledges to move towards equalising levy rates on electricity and gas. From April 2022 it will freeze the levy on electricity and raise it on gas. Investing £500m to support the roll-out of new rapid-charging hubs.
Floods: Communities hit by flooding will get a share of £120m to shore up existing defences and repair properties damaged during the winter, with an extra £200m to build flood resilience for communities repeatedly affected. Spending on flood defences will be doubled to £5.2bn over the next six years.
Coronavirus: The government has committed to a £12bn plan to respond to the economic impact of coronavirus. This includes a pledge of a £500m boost to the welfare system. For those who do not qualify for sick pay, it will become easier to access benefits. Those on Contributory Employment and Support Allowance will be able to claim from day one instead of day eight. The minimum income floor for Universal Credit will be temporarily removed for people who are self-employed and there will be no need to physically visit job centres. There will be a £500m hardship fund for local authorities to deal with coronavirus.
Inside Housing will be delving into the detail of these announcements over the next few hours.
More on the Budget 2020
Inside Housing is bringing you up-to-date news, analysis and comment from the first post-Brexit Budget.
Here are the details of all our coverage so far:
Shared ownership Right to Buy likely to be applied to all rented homes funded under £12bn programme The government is looking at allowing tenants renting homes built through the new Affordable Homes Programme the right to shared ownership of their homes
Fire safety costs ‘could still hit development pipelines’ despite £1bn fund Concerns remain in sector despite cladding removal fund
Budget 2020: an improvement on recent years but questions remain Jules Birch gives his verdict on the first post-Brexit Budget
Housing figures react to ‘positive’ Budget announcements for sector Reaction from key sector figures to the measures unveiled
The housing bits of Sunak’s speech in full Read the key passages from the chancellor’s speech to the House of Commons
PWLB rates for social housing cut to pre-hike levels The cost for councils of borrowing to fund social housing will fall
Budget 2020: the key housing measures at a glance An at-a-glance guide to the key Budget announcements for the sector
Chancellor announces additional £12bn for Affordable Homes Programme Rishi Sunak announces the largest affordable grant programme in years
£650m fund to tackle rough sleeping The chancellor promises to fund 6,000 new places for rough sleepers to live
£1bn Building Safety Fund to remove ‘all forms’ of cladding The government pledges money to make all buildings safer
Housing secretary to announce planning reforms Ministers will set plans to reform the planning system on Thursday
Pre-Budget:
What should the housing sector look out for in today’s Budget? Peter Apps runs through the issues the sector should be looking out for
The housing sector is right to feel anxious about tomorrow’s Budget The government has indicated that its main focus with regard to housing policy is homeownership. The sector should be nervous about what this means for its spending priorities, writes John Perry
What the sector wants from the chancellor James Wilmore sifts through the submissions from the sector’s biggest players to find out what they want from the Budget later today
Conservative MPs urge chancellor to use Budget to build more social housing A group of 27 Conservative MPs and the mayor of the West Midlands have written to chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of the Budget statement to urge him to allocate more money to building social housing.
How this Budget will signal the government’s direction of travel on housing With the first post-Brexit Budget due, Kate Henderson assesses the issues on which the sector has been lobbying
