Headline announcements

We were very pleased to see the following commitments from the government, which broadly reflected some of the core asks of our budget submission:

• £500m in new funding for the current Affordable Homes Programme.

• An additional £1bn of building safety funding to remove dangerous cladding. This commitment includes new funding to speed up the remediation of social housing.

• An initial £3.4bn over the next three years for the Warm Homes Plan (replacing the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund).

• An extra £1.3bn for local councils, with a welcome funding boost of at least £600m for social care and £230m to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

The Chancellor also confirmed that the government are reviewing Right to Buy discounts, to protect existing housing supply.

Rents consultation

Top of our budget submission was a call for a new rent settlement, to provide financial certainty for our members. In her speech the Chancellor announced a consultation on a proposed a 5-year settlement, at CPI+1% - for social rent and affordable rent.

In the consultation the government recognises the financial pressures on the sector, and how crucial stability of rental income is to address this. It is also really clear on need to increase the quantity and quality of social homes and recognises that certainty on regulatory environment is also crucial.

Stay tuned for more from us on this soon.

Our budget response

Our chief executive Kate Henderson has responded to the budget, saying that it “demonstrates the government's commitment to social housing, recognising it alongside the NHS and schools, as part of the vital infrastructure of our country.”

Yet it was disappointing that there was no funding announced for supported housing. Supported housing is vital to help the most vulnerable and relieve the pressures facing health and social care, but is in crisis, with 1 in 3 providers forced to close schemes in the last year. We will be making the case for this in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

Members, particularly those providing supported housing, have been raising with us their concerns about the threshold and rate changes to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The NHF will continue to engage with members to understand the consequences of this change.