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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 Wednesday’s Budget statement to urge him to allocate more money to building social housing.
The group, led by former Brexit secretary David Davis, said the government should “ensure the people of this country are only restricted by their hard work and vision, not their postcode”.
The letter points out that a large number of people living in social housing voted for the Conservatives in the general election.
“A vital part of our agenda must be ensuring ample, safe and secure housing,” the letter said. “This has been ignored for too many decades.”
Signatories of the letter included Bob Blackman, who is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on building communities, and Peter Aldous, who had chaired the group on housing and care for older people.
Other MPs involved include Tim Loughton, Gordon Henderson, Ben Everitt, Huw Merriman and Danny Kruger, as well as Andy Street, the mayor for the West Midlands.
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The letter added: “We need the money to build and renovate our available stock, but we also need to reform the planning and laws around land to make it easier to get the social homes built.
“We believe this year’s Budget is the chance to signal that we will be serious about making this happen.”
In a comment in The Sun written to coincide with the letter, Mr Davis said the “stability provided by my family securing a council house when I was growing up was invaluable in allowing me to focus on getting ahead in life”.
The son of a working-class single mother, Mr Davis grew up in south-west London.
Mr Sunak is due to give his Budget – his first as chancellor – tomorrow, and the housing sector has called on him to make housing a priority.
The National Housing Federation has said the government must commit to tackling homelessness, commit to a building safety fund, adopt a place-based approach to urban renewal, and run a “fair and effective” welfare system.
Along with the Chartered Institute of Housing, it also called for a commitment to funding the Affordable Homes Programme beyond its current cut-off date next year.
Both said that £12.8bn of annual government investment is needed in real terms over the next 10 years to build 145,000 affordable homes a year.
The housing secretary Robert Jenrick promised in January that the next Affordable Homes Programme would be “even larger” than the current £9bn programme.
Click here to read Inside Housing’s analysis of what the sector wants from the Budget
Signatories of the letter
- Peter Aldous
- Lee Anderson
- Bob Blackman
- David Davis
- Richard Drax
- Ben Everitt
- Simon Fell
- George Freeman
- Mark Garnier
- James Gray
- Robert Halfon
- Sally-Ann Hart
- Gordon Henderson
- Paul Holmes
- Mark Jenkinson
- Danny Kruger
- Pauline Latham
- Marco Longhi
- Jack Lopresti
- Tim Loughton
- Jason McCartney
- Huw Merriman
- Andrew Rosindell
- Andrew Selous
- Andy Street
- Martin Vickers
- Charles Walker
- William Wragg
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
