The government’s affordable housing programme will reportedly fall short of its target by 32,000 homes.
There are currently around 1.2 million households on the waiting lists for social housing in England, the highest since 2016, but the public accounts committee believes that the programme will fall further behind as construction inflation soars.
With a new below-inflation cap on social rent increases implemented by chancellor Jeremy Hunt, new building could be further limited.
Under the 2016 programme, only 241,000 of the targeted 250,000 homes will be built. In the latest wave that started in 2021, only 157,000 of the targeted 180,000 will be built, a shortfall of around 32,000 homes.
The most noticeable shortfalls have been seen in rural areas, with Homes England only providing grants for just 6,250 rural homes, around half the number required in the policy. This included less than 4,500 social homes despite a waiting list of over 250,000 people in rural areas.
With the announcement that local housing targets will now be “a starting point” rather than mandatory and councils will the power to propose building fewer homes, Michael Gove has been accused of enshrining nimbyism and the shortage of affordable housing is expected to worsen.
The Home Builders Federation believe the abandonment of the housing targets could result in 100,000 fewer homes being built each year.
But the industry lobby group, the Home Builders Federation, fears it could result in 100,000 fewer homes being built annually. Builders started work on 180,000 homes in England in the last year, according to official data.
HBF managing director, Neil Jefferson, said: “If ministers fail to stand up to the anti-business and anti-development section of the Conservative party, it is inevitable that housing supply will fall dramatically, costing hundreds of thousands of jobs, slashing GDP and preventing even more people from accessing decent housing.”
