Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s Budget increased the housing delivery target to 300,000 in a clear signal that the Government remains unwavering in their approach to greatly accelerate housing delivery across the country to help solve the housing crisis.
In their post-Budget breakdown, both the Chartered Institute of Housing and National Housing Federation (NHF) expressed optimism at the Budget, applauding the headline change to Stamp Duty as well as welcoming the additional £2.7bn made available to the housing infrastructure fund; an £1.1bn fund to unlock strategic sites; and, £1.5bn to help small developers build more homes.
However, the NHF felt that the Chancellor had not gone far enough, stating “there was nothing in this statement about the Government taking action on increasing access to land, which is needed if we are going to significantly increase supply”.
The NHF has long called for a mature approach to the sanctity of the Green Belt land, calling for relaxation of Green Belt restrictions to allow land that no longer serves the purposes of the Green Belt to be released to provide an essential boost towards addressing the housing crisis.
ENDS