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Housing bodies demand ‘levelling up’ of housing funding for the North in Budget
The government must use its upcoming Budget to tackle inequalities around the funding of affordable homes in the North if it is to achieve its aim of “levelling up” regions outside London and the South East, a number of sector groups have warned.
Trade bodies have ramped up the pressure on chancellor Rishi Sunak to use his Budget on 11 March to tackle the regional inequalities in the housing market.
In its Budget proposal, the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) has called for a “truly national” Affordable Homes Programme that does not place “arbitrary restrictions” on areas in the North.
Currently the government’s five key housing funds concentrate 80% of all investment in areas of “high affordability pressure”, defined as areas where private rents exceed social rents by £50 or more per week on average.
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According to the NHC, that means only four local authority areas in the North qualify for funding, while Shelter, which also called for a re-prioritising of social rent funding, found restrictions meant only 10 Northern councils have been able to bid for social rent grant since 2018.
The NHC has described the current formula as a “blunt tool”, which virtually eliminates use of social rent funding in Northern areas, despite a stark need.
Sinead Butters, chair of PlaceShapers and chief executive of Aspire, echoed these calls, saying that the country “needs a wholesale UK housing offer” that does not just focus on the “halcyon hotspots” of areas in the South.
The National Housing Federation said government could “kick-start its levelling-up agenda” by investing £1bn each year in renewing towns, cities and communities.
The G15 called for a high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds to be prioritised ahead of all other infrastructure projects , including Crossrail 2.
