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Combined authorities ‘should get London-style powers over housing grant’ with new devolution, sector figures say

Greater Manchester and West Midlands combined authorities should get London-style powers to distribute housing grant locally, sector figures have said after yesterday’s Budget promised further devolution to both regions.

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Greater Manchester and West Midlands combined authorities should get London-style powers to distribute housing grant locally, sector figures have said after yesterday’s Budget promised further devolution to both regions #UKhousing

The new powers were a surprise addition to yesterday’s Spring Budget announcements and are set to provide more control over affordable housing funds distributed in the regions.

Currently, funds allocated under the Affordable Homes Programme are administered by the Greater London Authority in the capital and by Homes England across the rest of the country. 

Yesterday’s Budget said the devolution deal would allow the two regions to “set the strategic direction over the Affordable Housing Programme in their areas for the first time outside of London”. 

A statement from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said the deal would grant it “local leadership” and allow it to “set the strategic direction for the Affordable Homes Programme and acquire a growing role in key operational decisions such as site selection and provider choice”. 

Speaking to Inside Housing, James Prestwich, director of policy and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the regions should get London-style control of grant for their areas. 

“The model there in London gives the kind of local control that the Treasury wants to see, so why reinvent the wheel when you’ve got a model that seems to do a decent job?” he said. 

He added that a major question would be whether the authorities are given the power to fund regeneration that may not create additional housing – something which government grant funding currently does not cover. 


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Matthew Walker, chair of PlaceShapers, added: “We think, in particular, members in Manchester and Birmingham are going to look forward to working with partners there locally. It does recognise the differing housing markets around the country and enable support to be directed to where it most is needed. So that’s a welcome change.”

Will Jeffwitz, head of policy at the National Housing Federation (NHF), said: “In terms of housing-specific announcements, that really feels like the most substantial thing [in the Budget].

“Our housing association members in those two regions specifically have really good relationships with combined authorities and have done a lot of work already.

“I’m sure they will want to work really closely with the combined authorities to work out how to deliver the most affordable housing with the money and powers that they get devolved.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham hailed the deal, which also included new transport, employment and net zero powers as well as full control of business rates, “a new era for English devolution.” 

While housing sector figures welcomed wider Budget measures, such as energy bill support and capping prepayment meters at direct debit rates, there was also widespread disappointment that more was not done to expand affordable housing delivery, fund decarbonisation or raise benefits. 

All of these were objectives lobbied for by sector bodies in the weeks leading up to the Budget, but none were adopted by the Treasury.

Sector figures told Inside Housing that they had not expected to get much from the speech after engaging with officials in the weeks leading up to the statement. One source said expectations were “relatively low” in the weeks before the statement. 

On decarbonisation, Mr Jeffwitz said the NHF had been pushing the government to announce details of its promised £6bn spend on social housing decarbonisation post-2025. 

“I think it’s a shame that the government isn’t able to commit to a longer-term funding for social housing retrofits,” he said.

“I think if they could do that then it would give providers confidence to invest and it would give the supply chain a lot more confidence to build up, which is what’s going to need to happen.

“The quicker they can announce how that will be spent and make it a concrete pot that can be bid into, the more benefits they’ll get from it, so we just want them to do this as quickly as they can.” 

Spring Budget 2023: housing headlines at a glance

Jeremy Hunt delivers the Budget to Parliament (picture: Parliament TV)
Jeremy Hunt delivers the Budget to Parliament (picture: Parliament TV)
  • A discount of 0.4% on Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for local authorities building new affordable housing
  • New ‘deeper devolution deals’ for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, which will allow them to “set the strategic direction” for Affordable Housing Programme funds in their regions
  • £200m for local regeneration projects including Tipton town centre and the Marsden New Mills redevelopment scheme

  • £161m for regeneration projects with mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority

  • £400m for new levelling up partnerships in areas including Redcar and Cleveland, Blackburn, Rochdale, Oldham, Mansfield and South Tyneside

  • Prepayment meter bills to be brought in line with direct debits

  • Increasing the availability of veterans’ housing through a £30m package to the Office for Veterans’ Affairs

  • Sanctions on Universal Credit claimants in search of work to be applied “more rigorously”

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