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Affordable housing will grind to a halt
Cuts to the national housing budget are set to be so extreme that the Government may be unable to fund more than 240 homes in London and the South East, up until March 2015.
The National Housing Federation, the main voice for the country’s housing associations, said that the amount of new money – under expected budget cuts of 50% – will be so low, that ministers may only be able to fund a handful of additional new homes.
Federation chief executive David Orr said: “The impact of the expected cuts to the housing budget will bring the building of affordable housing effectively grinding to a halt over the course of this Parliament.”
The Federation said that massive damage would be visited upon the local economy with 156,000 jobs being axed by 2020, and £32bn worth of economic activity being lost. It also fears a double dip recession.
Last year, around 30,000 new affordable homes were delivered in London and the South East. However, this year the Federation has revealed that funding has fallen short by £100m and over 1,100 already allocated homes have been axed.
Orr added: “The slump in affordable housebuilding in London and the South East will not only be bad news for millions of people on waiting lists in the region, but it will be a hammer blow to the regional economy – which would be the powerhouse of any expected economic recovery.”