Housebuilding consortium JV North is calling on the Chancellor to provide a top-up for the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) in her budget next week to avoid a slowdown in development.
With around 18 months left of the 2021/26 AHP, the organisation says developments of over 50 homes or those that take longer than 12 months are now at risk.
Usually, it says, government-funded programmes are announced in advance and overlap with the last two running from 2018 to 2021 and then 2021 to 2026 so housebuilding carries on unabated.
JV North says funding certainty in Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ first budget is vital for board approval at a time when financial viability is under heavy scrutiny.
The consortium is also calling for a rolling fund to provide long-term financial certainty.
John Bowker, JV North’s chair, said: “With a record number of people on waiting lists, homeless and living in temporary accommodation, we cannot afford a period where housebuilding stalls so it is crucial the sector is given access to a housebuilding fund this Spending Review.
“An additional £3bn – a reasonable, realistic request given the original fund was £12.4bn – along with two more years taking us to a 2028 end date would avoid a fallow housebuilding period.
“This would then give government time to fully plan and implement its new programme, which we hope will be announced in spring 2025.
“In this we would like to see five-year programmes replaced with a rolling fund which would in effect mean continuous market engagement bidding that helps negate, as much as is possible, volatile market conditions such as inflationary build cost pressures.
“Having certainty and a long-term plan will cascade through the sector giving housing association boards confidence to approve schemes at a time when financial viability is under heavy scrutiny.
“Continuous funding will also avoid repeating risks where housebuilding slows or stalls as we get circa two-thirds of the way into a programme and enable larger-scale regeneration projects that make a significant impact to be delivered.”
Main image: Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her first speech on the UK economy, July 2024, at HM Treasury. Picture by Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury
Read next: Get ready to greet the future
Are you a social housing professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.