World News
Andy Burnham aligns housing fund demands with government plan for mixed-tenure development
Ministers allocate an initial £10 billion from the Affordable Homes Programme across various subsidized housing types rather than exclusively for council housing.
The short version
- Andy Burnham has backed down from demands to spend the entire £39 billion 10-year Affordable Homes Programme exclusively on council and social housing.
- The UK government announced an initial £10 billion allocation outside London to build 70,000 homes, with approximately 60% dedicated to social rent and the remainder for shared ownership and sheltered housing.
- London will receive £6 billion under the plan, while £16 billion in program funding remains unallocated for future rounds.
- For the first time, three local councils will act as direct strategic partners alongside traditional housing developers to deliver the builds.
Key facts
- Ministers announced an initial £10 billion allocation from the 10-year Affordable Homes Programme to fund 70,000 homes outside London.[The Guardian]
- About 60% of the homes built outside London with the initial funding will be social rented homes, while the rest will support shared ownership and sheltered housing.[The Guardian]
- Andy Burnham had previously campaigned for the entire funding pool to be dedicated solely to building council homes.[The Guardian]
- An additional £6 billion has been allocated for London, and £16 billion of the total funds remains unallocated.[The Guardian]
- Funding will be distributed to 33 strategic partners, including three local councils for the first time in the scheme's history.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- The exact timeline and specific distribution criteria for the remaining £16 billion unallocated housing funds have not yet been specified.[The Guardian]
Sources
- Burnham backtracks on spending housing fund only on building social homesThe Guardian - World