Exclusive:
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner writes for The Mirror as the government announces new cash to build more affordable and social homes and tackle England’s housing emergency
Everyone deserves a decent, safe, secure and affordable home, but many Mirror readers will know, first hand, that this has become increasingly out of reach for working people.
The results of the housing emergency we inherited are clear to see: a generation locked out of home ownership, 1.3 million people on social housing waiting lists, soaring rents and record levels of homelessness, including, shamefully, almost 160,000 children living in temporary accommodation.
The lack of good quality, affordable housing has also condemned too many families renting privately to the misery of cramped, unacceptable living conditions. This Government was elected to change this and we’re wasting no time in getting on with the job.
First and foremost, this means building many more homes of all kinds, including council housing, as part of our Plan for Change to grow the economy and raise living standards for millions of working people. And our bold commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes also includes a commitment to the biggest increase to social and affordable housing for a generation.
We’ve taken decisive steps towards this with a £5 billion boost in the Budget for housebuilding, including an extra £500 million for up to 5,000 new homes through our Affordable Homes Programme.
I’m delighted to announce today that we’re topping this up with a further £300 million which will go towards building up to 2,800 new affordable homes where they are most needed. This is just one of a series of ambitious measures announced this week that, alongside reforms to the planning system, will remove the barriers holding us back and get shovels in the ground.
We will build more affordable homes and council housing, but we are also acting to make sure we’re not losing previous, existing stock faster than we can replace it through reforms to Right to Buy.
Bringing England’s housing crisis to an end will not be easy. We haven’t built enough homes for decades to meet demand and it will take time to turn this around. But where the last Government failed to act and caved in to vested interests, we’re putting social and affordable housing at the heart of our Plan for Change to get Britain building, put money in people’s pockets and spread opportunity.
This is because we know that a safe, secure, affordable home is not a luxury or a nice to have.It is the foundation on which good lives are built. With the new funding and important measures announced this week, we will make this available to millions more working people.
