The Spending Review: a gamechanger for social housing

Paul Hackett CBE Chief Executive at Southern Housing

Yesterday’s Spending Review delivered on the key asks we – and many across the sector – have been calling for to get social housing back on track:

• A 10-year, inflation-linked rent settlement
• Equal access to remediation funding, regardless of tenure
• A £39bn, decade-long Affordable Homes Programme
• A consultation on rent convergence
• Long-term investment in decarbonising social homes

These decisions taken together should give us the long-term certainty we need to plan for the future with confidence.

We particularly welcome the move to expand access to Building Safety Funding. It’s a game-changer that could significantly accelerate our remediation programme and ultimately unlock our financial capacity to deliver new homes and upgrade existing ones.

We share the Government’s ambition to ensure more people have access to safe, affordable homes, and we’re keen to play our part in delivering the homes they want to build. There is more to do, and we await detail on how grant funding will be allocated, but this marks a serious and welcome recommitment to social housing.