Housing Minister, Lee Rowley, has confirmed that new Prime Minister Liz Truss is committed to scrapping the 300,000 homes a year target.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Rowley said that Truss has been “clear that she wants to abolish top-down housing targets”, and that the government is in the process of “working through” the policy changes.
The 300,000 homes target was introduced in 2017 by former Chancellor Phillip Hammond to tackle housing affordability, and was also part of the Conservative manifesto in 2019. Since then, the government have failed to meet the target, delivering 242,700 homes in 2019-20 and 216,490 in 2020-21.
Rowley said: “Liz was clear over the course of the summer that she wants to abolish top-down housing targets and she said that on multiple occasions.”
“So we’re working through that policy change – obviously there is quite a lot to think about in terms of how to do that.”
He added: “The prime minister has made a commitment. The government is committed to removing it, so we’ll be working through how we do that.”
He continued to say that more details can be expected in the coming weeks.
Rowley also addressed the concerns shared by many social housing providers over the proposed rent cap
One of the major concerns for social housing providers at the moment is the proposed rent cap, which aims to ensure that tenants do not face a huge rent hike amid the cost of living and energy crises. The proposals are currently going through consultation, but include a rent cap of 3%, 5% or 7%.
Mr Rowley did not commit to providing extra funding for social housing providers, but said that “the sector has been clear” about its concerns.
“The consultation is underway at the moment. We understand the concerns, we know there are challenges here. It’s been articulated already in my time in post.”
“We’ll let that consultation conclude, see what the outcome is of it is.”
