Highest increase in affordable housebuilding for 22 years
The latest figures show 66,640 new affordable homes were delivered in the last year.
• over 66,000 new affordable homes delivered in the last year – the highest annual increase since 1993
• numbers of new affordable and social rented homes up by nearly two-thirds in the last 12 months
• over 270,000 new affordable homes delivered since 2010
The numbers of affordable homes are growing at their fastest rate since 1993, new figures today (2 December 2015) show.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark said this was further proof of the government’s commitment to get more homes built.
The latest figures show 66,640 new affordable homes were delivered in the last year – 55% higher than the previous year.
It meant the numbers of social and affordable rented homes increased by nearly two-thirds, and the number of affordable homes to buy rose by 41% over the same time period.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark said:
"Today’s figures show how far we’ve come to get the country building, bringing the industry back from the brink to deliver the highest annual increase in affordable housebuilding for over 2 decades.
"But we are far from complacent and the doubling of government investment in housebuilding announced at the recent Spending Review reaffirms our commitment to deliver a million new homes by 2020.
"Affordable homes to rent and buy are a key part of that, helping to give young people and families across the country the best possible start in life."
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said:
"Our housebuilding efforts are paying off and can be seen by this considerable increase in the number of affordable homes built in just one year.
"This is real progress but there is more to do. That’s why we are going further and increasing our investment in these homes to ensure many more hard-working people can benefit."
Building more affordable homes
Housebuilding is a key part of the government’s long-term economic plan.
Today’s figures mean that over 270,000 new affordable homes have been delivered since 2010.
At the Spending Review last week, the government announced plans to double investment in housebuilding to £8 billion, to help towards delivering one million homes by 2020 – and to deliver the largest affordable housebuilding programme since the 1970s.
This includes:
• delivering 135,000 new homes to buy through a new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership scheme
• a new London Help to Buy, to help aspiring homeowners in the capital to buy with a fraction of the deposit they would normally require
• plans to deliver 200,000 new Starter Homes, which will be available at a 20% discount to young first time buyers
This is on top of measures included in the Housing and Planning Bill currently going through Parliament, including:
• ensuring new Starter Homes are included on all reasonably sized development sites
• giving communities the power to grant permission in principle on sites identified in local plans and on brownfield registers, to speed up the planning system while at the same time protecting the green belt
• planning reforms to support small builders, with a requirement for councils to offer shovel-ready sites for custom-build homes