More than £1 billion has been unlocked from the market to build new affordable homes thanks to the government’s strong economic record, according to Housing Minister Brandon Lewis.
The minister said this new milestone highlighted how “The government is delivering on its promise to do everything possible to get the new homes built to help hard working families with their housing needs.”
Speaking to the Northern Housing Consortium in Leeds today, Mr Lewis said the £1 billion in housing guarantees approved to date would help build more than 9,000 new affordable homes across the UK – in addition to the 200,000 affordable homes the government has provided in England since 2010.
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: "Since 2010 this government has put in place a long-term economic plan that is cutting the national deficit, supporting people back into work and keeping interest rates down to help people with their mortgages.
"Our affordable housing guarantee scheme is a prime example of the benefits that brings: the government’s strong economic record unlocking more than £1 billion for sensible borrowing at rates well below the market average.
"This funding is helping to build 9,000 homes across the UK, on top of the 200,000 affordable homes already built since 2010."
The system of guarantees allows housing associations to borrow money for new affordable housing at very competitive rates, underpinned by the government as a debt guarantor. The total fund is worth £3.5 billion UK-wide.
The Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme is one of a range of measures the government has taken that have got Britain building.
They include:
- reforming the English planning system, putting power back in the hands of local people – over the past year, planning permissions were granted on 230,000 new homes
- £19.5 billion in public and private investment in an affordable housebuilding programme between 2011 to 2015, with a further £23 billion planned between 2015 to 2018 which will lead to the fastest rate of affordable housebuilding for 2 decades (both programmes are England-only)
- the Help to Buy scheme, which has already helped create more than 54,000 new homeowners in England, including 39,000 moving into new build homes.