The government is launching its £12bn affordable housing investment programme this week after announcing the scheme earlier this year.
The housing secretary has also set out further details on reforms to the shared ownership model to allow residents to gradually acquire their property by “staircasing up” in smaller increments of 10 per cent instead of 25 per cent.
Half of the £12bn total funding will be used to deliver properties for affordable home ownership and half will be used to provide more social rented housing.
Within the social rented provision, 10 per cent of funding will be available for supported housing for people with physical or mental health conditions.
The £12.2bn total investment was confirmed at the Budget and includes £700m for new homes through the 2016 to 2022 programme.
It also includes a further £11.5bn for the delivery of affordable housing over the five years from 2021 to 2026, which the government says will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, “should economic conditions allow”.
Nearly £7.5bn will be used to deliver housing outside London by Homes England, while the Greater London Authority has been offered £4bn although negotiations about what they will deliver are ongoing.
Homes England will publish their Affordable Homes Programme prospectus this week, inviting councils, housing associations and private providers to prepare bids.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick MP says: “Today’s announcement represents the highest single funding commitment to affordable housing in a decade and is part of our comprehensive plans to build back better.
“This government is helping hard-working families and prospective first-time buyers get their feet on the housing ladder in an affordable way.
“Thanks to the range of flexible ownership options being made available, more families across the country will be able to realise their dreams of owning their own home, with half of these homes being made available for ownership.
“As well as delivering homes for affordable ownership, the new programme will deliver homes for affordable and social rent.
“Funding for social rent, which is typically 50 to 60 per cent of market prices, will be available to housing providers across the country, providing secure, affordable housing to families who need it most.”
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate says: “With an unprecedented recession underway, major job losses on the horizon, and a housing emergency about to spin out of control, the government must invest more in social housing than its current plans allow for.
“Social homes are designed to be genuinely affordable, which is exactly what we need right now.
“Discounted homeownership schemes are not.
“We welcome the fact that today’s plan points to more social homes being built than we’ve seen in the past.
“But achieving the step change we need to deal with the scale of crisis that we face will require the government to go further, faster.
“In five years it will be too late, the government must ringfence enough money and spend it on social homes now.”
