Thousands of new homes in England will be built as part of a £2bn plan to boost social and affordable house building, the government has said.
Up to 18,000 new homes are set to be delivered, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves said would go some way to “fixing the housing crisis”.
Charities said the “vast majority” of new homes should be for social rent amid record highs in homelessness across the country.
The funding is described by the government as a “down payment from the Treasury” ahead of longer-term investment in social and affordable housing expected to be announced later in the year.
The government expects at least half of the 18,000 would be social homes. But charities have called for the “vast majority” to be for social rent as homelessness hits record highs across the country.
The government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.
Tuesday’s announcement comes a day before the spring statement, in which the chancellor is expected to announce spending cuts for some government departments, having already unveiled cuts to welfare.
The cuts – which have proved unpopular with Labour backbenchers – come amid reports that the digital services tax – a levy on big tech companies – could be slashed in order to stave off American tariffs.
Last year, experts at the New Economics Foundation said 90,000 social homes would need to be built by as early as 2027/28 to meet the government’s target.
By the final year of this parliament, ministers would “need to go beyond this and deliver 110,000 new social homes to ensure 1.5 million homes are built”, the foundation said, amounting to a total of 365,000 social rent homes over the next five years to hit the target.
Read more:
What do you need to know about spring statement
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The chancellor announced the plans on a visit to an affordable housing site in Stoke-On-Trent with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.
Ms Rayner said: “Everyone deserves to have a safe and secure roof over their heads and a place to call their own, but the reality is that far too many people have been frozen out of homeownership or denied the chance to rent a home they can afford thanks to the housing crisis we’ve inherited.
“This investment will help us to build thousands more affordable homes to buy and rent and get working people and families into secure homes and onto the housing ladder.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Follow our channel and never miss an update
The number of households on local authority waiting lists, or registers, for social housing in England stood at 1,330,611 in 2024 – the highest figure in a decade.
The previous highest figure was 1,370,410 in 2014.
Matt Downie, chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Crisis, said Tuesday’s announcement was “hugely welcome” and hopefully “signals the beginning of a social housebuilding programme that will radically shift this country’s response to homelessness, putting housing at the heart of the solution”.
