Mayor of London’s office pushes government for extra grant funding ‘during and after’ COVID-19 crisis

Homes England pauses for thought

Homes England, which provides grant funding programmes across the rest of England, said it is consulting with the sector before putting a plan of action in place regarding its existing programmes.

In an end of financial year statement, Nick Walkley, chief executive of the agency, said: “Homes England will not rush to judgement about how we should respond. We will take the time to engage with and listen carefully to the sector and proactively seek input on the support it needs.

“We are reaching out to partners across the industry to fully understand their needs to ensure we take the right steps. By working with and alongside the sector, we are determined to ensure that Homes England can support the market when this public health crisis recedes.”

However, Mr Walkley was also reported as saying last week that the agency “must press on” in areas such as public consultations “because housing delivery and housing demand doesn’t go away”.

Sector response

A number of large London housing associations said they have stopped short of calling for grant funding at this time, saying that the government and the sector are focused on the immediate crisis at hand.

However, the Chartered Institute of Housing warned at the end of last month that its UK Housing Review 2020 shows grant levels for new social housing in England “have fallen dangerously low and will need to rise to boost investment in response to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak”.

It said grant now covers just 11 per cent of housing associations’ development costs, leaving the rest to be met by borrowing and surpluses, while a third of new homes are being built without any grant.

The review also shows that only 11 per cent of new homes built in England are at “genuinely affordable” social rents, compared with nearly 70 per cent in Scotland and more than 80 per cent in Wales.

However last week, Scotland’s housing minister Kevin Stewart posted a video to social media saying he now expects the country to fall short of its target to deliver 50,000 affordable homes by 2021.

The target, being delivered by social landlords and councils, includes 35,000 homes for social rent.

He tweeted: “We were on track to deliver @scotgov’s ambitious 50k affordable homes target, but the Covid19 pandemic now makes this unlikely. Thanks to all who have helped in our endeavours & I know that we’ll all rise to the challenge after the current emergency ends.”