Yesterday Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out the Government’s spending plans as part of the Spending Review.
As a social housing provider, we were delighted to see housing form a key part of her announcements with a transformative package of measures, including a £39bn investment in the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), a ten-year rent settlement, and full funding for the Warm Homes Plan.
These announcements will deliver the conditions to support a decade of renewal and growth right across the housing sector and will assist BHT Sussex in delivering key aspects of our Strategic Plan.
The Chancellor’s announcement of £39bn in AHP funding almost doubles previous programmes and is hugely welcome. Homes for social rent will be prioritised, but other tenures like affordable rent and shared ownership will also be included. Our housing advice service is currently inundated with clients who are inadequately housed, and a significant programme of housing development could help alleviate those pressures on people.
We are encouraged by the government’s focus on early intervention and homelessness prevention, areas of work prioritised by our advice services, which last year prevented 761 people from becoming homeless. Investment in the advice sector is something we have long been campaigning for nationally, alongside Advice UK and their members.
One of our top priorities is ensuring the safety and quality of our residents’ homes, so we are pleased the government has confirmed their commitment to the Warm Homes Plan and to giving social landlords equal access to building safety funding. The Warm Homes Social Housing Fund helps those who own social housing stock to install energy efficiency upgrades, and we have recently used their matched funding to transform some of our properties with solar panels, cavity wall insulation and double glazing.
Supported housing remains in financial crisis due to years of cuts and working with our trade body the National Housing Federation, we will continue to call for urgent funding to prevent further vital services from closing. Although the Spending Review did not outline specific funding for supported housing, the broader financial package outlined will be available to supported housing providers. Commitments included the £3.4bn of grant funding for local government finance, the £3.25bn Transformation Fund to drive a preventative approach within public services and the £100m for homelessness prevention. We will be working with our colleagues in local government to see how this funding can be effectively channelled to prevent homelessness and provide supported housing to transform people’s lives across Sussex.
This feels like a pivotal moment for the sector as a whole and with the potential opportunities that devolution may bring in Sussex, we look forward to working closely with all our partners to achieve better outcomes for all our clients and tenants.
