A coalition of housing providers has warned the new Labour government it will fail to deliver 1.5 million new homes this parliament without “urgent” intervention.

Housing associations and councils have urged deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner MP, to deliver the “biggest boost to social housing in a generation” and plug a £2.2 billion black hole in their budgets which is threatening the next four years of development.
It comes amid a 30 per cent fall in housing association starts on site of new homes last year, with further falls expected this year.
The group implored the deputy PM, who is also the housing secretary, to alleviate financial pressures around social housing delivery as part of the next spending review, to fund new-build construction projects and retrofit and decarbonisation programmes across their existing stock.
“We are writing today as an unprecedented coalition of social housing providers and practitioners, to outline practical next steps to rebuild the capacity and confidence of the social housing sector,” wrote the coalition.
“We are all united on the need for urgent action, which must include long-term income certainty, an immediate boost to existing grant programmes, and fairer access to building safety funding.
“At the next spending review, we need a long-term plan for new and existing social homes, underpinned by a fair and sustainable financial model developed alongside councils and housing associations.
“Without this, we will not be able to deliver our shared ambition to build 1.5 million new homes this parliament.”
Some of the signatories include:
- National Housing Federation
- Chartered Institute of Housing
- Local Government Association
- National Federation of ALMOs
- Association of Retained Council Housing
Labour promised the “biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation” in their manifesto by, in part, making amendments to the Affordable Homes Programme as well as planning reforms and a commitment to building 1.5 million homes this parliament.
The coalition, which includes several large local authorities like Birmingham City Council, Bristol City Council, City of Wolverhampton Council, and Nottingham City Council, are receiving diminished income from social housing renters in real terms than in the past, while facing costly decarbonisation quotas and a mounting housing crisis.
“Capped income, crippling cuts, unfunded new requirements and soaring costs have decimated housing association and council’s housing budgets,” the coalition added.
“Rental income is 15 per cent lower in real terms than in 2015, at the same time as we need to invest up to £50,000 on average in every social home over the next three decades to ensure they are safe, high quality and decarbonised.
“Given the scale and impact of this crisis, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further in an urgent roundtable meeting.”
Was this interesting? Try Galliford Try confident profits will exceed expectation
If you have a tip or story idea that fits with our publication, please contact the news editor rory@wavenews.co.uk
Get industry news in 5 minutes!
A daily email that makes industry news enjoyable. It’s completely free.