The Week in Housing: Labour’s first Budget comes with a little less dread

Meanwhile, local authorities are expected to save nearly £1.2bn by 2029-30 from Right to Buy reductions and being able to retain full receipts from social housing sales.

There is an additional £3bn in guarantees to support small house builders, plus a total of £4.4bn in new funding for cladding remediation and the government’s Warm Homes Plan, and £233m to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

While the extra £1bn for cladding remediation has been welcomed, Inside Housing understands that it will be delivered under current eligibility, meaning social landlords will still have difficulty accessing funding.

We reported this week how one London landlord had to sell off a number of social homes in the prime minister’s constituency to cover remediation costs. This is because the current funding system means social housing tenants are unable to access the Building Safety Fund.

There will also be an increase in the higher rate of stamp duty land tax to help first-time buyers and target second-home owners. It is hoped that this move will make it more difficult for investors and speculators to expand their property portfolios in favour of people who want to buy homes to live in.

One social landlord has sounded the alarm on the National Insurance rise for employers, saying that it could “endanger the government’s housebuilding plans”.

You can read the sector’s response here.

With the Budget still being digested, one commentator for Inside Housing asked: did it go far enough on homelessness? The writer makes a fair point, as the number of people sleeping rough for the first time in London increased by 12% in the latest quarter, new data from City Hall found.

Ahead of the government’s first fiscal event, Alex Norris was appointed building safety minister after Rushanara Ali lost the brief.

Mr Norris, MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, was handed the responsibilities – which include the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire – after bereaved family members and survivors of the disaster complained about Ms Ali’s attendance at an event sponsored by one of the firms heavily criticised by the inquiry for its involvement in the fire.

The challenge the government faces in going net positive on social housing delivery was revealed this week as official annual data published by the Regulator of Social Housing showed that just 700 net new social homes were delivered in England due to the impact of Right to Buy.

The English regulator also published its latest batch of consumer judgements, which included two failures and the first C1 grade given to a local authority.

Inside Housing visited a Salford-based landlord recently to find out how it got the top consumer rating from the English regulator despite facing significant challenges, including 20 high-rise buildings and mounting reports of repairs.

Another large housing association has been fined £900,000 for allowing vulnerable residents to use contaminated water at its sheltered accommodation in Birkenhead.

There were a number of big deals announced, including one that was described as a “game-changing moment for the housing sector” by the chief executive of the G15 landlord that has acquired property management firm Pinnacle Group.

It was also revealed that a for-profit social housing provider and a European real estate investor have acquired three affordable housing projects worth a total of £20m.

At the same time, United Living Group has acquired Pilon, a social housing property services firm with a £40m turnover.

In Wales, organisations behind a campaign to make housing a legal right in the country have described a recently published white paper on adequate housing as lacking ambition. Charities in Scotland have warned that housing costs in Scotland are pushing 50,000 children into poverty.

Landlords continued to struggle with development and sales targets while maintaining existing stock investments.

Together Housing Group fell into deficit last year while achieving a surge in development. And Clarion’s pre-tax surplus has surged by 114% in its results for the first half of 2024-25, driven by rising sales and a drop in spending on existing homes.

Nottingham City Council is expecting a new, lower housing target of 5,804 homes by 2028 under the government’s ‘standard method’ shake-up, while Paradigm Housing Group has maintained its surplus in the first six months of 2024-25 despite a 26% drop in shared ownership sales.

After the government announced last month that it would exempt certain groups from the local connection test when they apply for social housing, Inside Housing has found out what sector figures think is needed for this plan to work.

Finally, we revealed the list of winners of this year’s Inside Housing Development Awards.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

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