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Welsh Budget: extra £133m given to social housing sector
An extra £133m will be given by the Welsh government to housing associations to support the delivery and improvement of social housing in the country, bringing the total budget for social housing grants to £223m.
The funding is part of an additional £175m being given to housing as part of the Welsh government’s draft budget for 2020/21, released today.
Of the £175m, an extra £48m has been allocated to Social Housing Grant, which is used to fund the construction of new social homes, alongside an extra £50m for loans to help registered social landlords fund social housing development plans and the decarbonisation of existing homes.
A further £10m has been allocated to the building of modular social homes, alongside an extra £5m for the Land Release Fund, which is focused on accelerating the development of social housing on publicly owned land.
The Welsh government currently has a commitment to build 20,000 affordable homes before the current assembly term ends in 2021.
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Today’s investment marks a significant increase in the amount of funding available for social housebuilding from a total budget of £188.2m in 2019/20.
In addition to the funding available for social housing, a further £25m has been allocated to extend the Innovative Housing Programme, with the aim of funding projects that help the government meet its decarbonisation targets.
However, funding for the Housing Support Grant, the government’s principle funding stream for preventing homelessness, has not been increased.
This is despite housing organisations including Cymorth Cymru, Community Housing Cymru and Welsh Women’s Aid calling on the government to increase funding for the Housing Support Grant earlier this month.
Stuart Ropke, chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, said: “The Welsh government has rightly prioritised solving the housing crisis in Wales and today’s announcement of an additional £133m for social housing is a huge boost to our work to build the genuinely affordable homes that Wales desperately needs.”
Matt Dicks, director of the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, said: “The additional £48m Social Housing Grant investment in delivering the 20,000 affordable housing target is a vital boost as we near the point towards achieving the target.
“Many of our current homes present the biggest challenge, with Wales having some of the oldest homes in Europe.
“The additional funding for social landlords to undertake initial activity to decarbonise existing homes is important against this backdrop, and whilst we understand the tight fiscal landscape in which the Welsh government is operating, investment in the decarbonisation of housing must clearly become a central feature of future budget considerations.”
Amanda Davies, chief executive of Pobl Housing Group, said: “As Wales’ largest housing association, we are set to meet our target of building 3,000 affordable homes between 2016 and 2021. We welcome the continued and increased commitment of an additional £175m that has been announced today.
“Setting a budget is always a difficult balancing act. Overall, this budget shows a continued commitment to tackling the issues of affordable housing, social care and the climate emergency and we welcome this approach for 2020 and beyond.”
