The Week in Housing: Labour’s first Budget comes with a little less dread

Good afternoon.

Was that a relief? There was definitely a feeling of less dread compared to the previous government’s fiscal events as Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 15 years on Wednesday.

Parliament was ringing with whoops and cheers as the chancellor promised “more homes being built, fixing the foundations of our economy, investing in our future, delivering change and rebuilding Britain”.

Ms Reeves confirmed a ￡500m top-up for the Affordable Homes Programme, of which the mayor of London?hopes the capital will see 20% , and a five-year rent settlement came with a consultation on the policy for April 2026 onwards.

The government is seeking views on a proposed five-year rent settlement , as well as longer-term settlements, which would allow housing associations and stock-owning councils to raise social rents by the Consumer Price Index plus 1% each year.

Meanwhile, local authorities are expected to save nearly ￡1.2bn by 2029-30 from Right to Buy reductions and being able to retain full receipts from social housing sales.

There is?an additional ￡3bn in guarantees to support small house builders, plus a total of ￡4.4bn in new funding for cladding remediation and the government’s Warm Homes Plan, and ￡233m to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

While the extra ￡1bn for cladding remediation has been welcomed, Inside Housing understands that it will be delivered under current eligibility, meaning social landlords will still have difficulty accessing funding.

We reported this week how one London landlord had to sell off a number of social homes in the prime minister’s constituency to cover remediation costs. This is because the current funding system means social housing tenants are unable to access the Building Safety Fund.

There will also be?an increase in the higher rate of stamp duty land tax to help first-time buyers and target second-home owners. It is hoped that this move will make it more difficult for investors and speculators to expand their property portfolios in favour of people who want to buy homes to live in.

One social landlord has?sounded the alarm on the National Insurance rise for employers, saying that it could “endanger the government’s housebuilding plans”.

You can read the sector’s response here .

With the Budget still being digested, one commentator for?Inside Housing asked: did it go far enough on homelessness? The writer makes a fair point, as the number of people sleeping rough for the first time in London increased by 12% in the latest quarter, new data from City Hall found.

Ahead of the government’s first fiscal event, Alex Norris was appointed building safety minister after Rushanara Ali lost the brief .

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