The Labour Government's first Budget and Autumn Statement is
scheduled for 30 October. It is expected to set out detailed
Government spending plans for 2025/26, but may also include
longer-term commitments. By the time the next issue of this
Bulletin appears its full details will have been made public.
But senior Labour figures have already dropped hints about what it
may mean for housing and media speculation on some other proposals
that may be included has not been rebutted by Government
spokespeople.
Asked about the Government's
target of 1.5 million new homes over five years at a Shelter fringe
meeting at the Labour Party conference, Deputy Prime Minister
Angela Rayner
said:
"Unless we address the social
and council housing problem in this country, then
we're really not going to get to the root problem
of the housing crisis for everybody. I actually think it's a moral
mission with the Labour government to recognise the
problem and to build the social housing we need. I've been honest
about not putting a figure on that today, because there's a lot of moving parts within that.
But hopefully at the spending review, you'll see
that this government is really serious that we're going to build those houses
we desperately need. It's a moral mission for our government, and
if it wasn't, then what's Labour for if we're not building safe and
secure homes that people need?"
Subsequent media stories have
suggested that £1 billion will be added to the Affordable Homes
Programme to increase social housing output. The same stories have
also reported that plans to reform the Right to Buy scheme - as
promised in Labour's manifesto - will be
announced at the
same time. These
would be likely
to come in the form
of a consultation paper, since secondary legislation is needed
to amend most details of the scheme. Proposals could include
a reduction in the discounts available to return the scheme closer
to its pre-2012 form, an increase in the number of years tenancy required before tenants
become eligible to buy from 3 to 10 years, and the exclusion of
newly-built homes from purchase through RTB.