Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her budget. Here, the housing sector reacts:

Paul Dolan, CEO of Riverside, said: “Over the past 15 years child poverty has grown and now almost one in three children are living in relative poverty with 60% of Universal Credit claimants affected by the policy in work. Scrapping the two-child benefit cap will help to prevent homelessness and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children by lifting them out of poverty.

“We are pleased to see the financial boost for the Warm Homes Plan which will create warmer, energy efficient homes and improve the health and wellbeing of residents. Riverside has been able to deliver energy efficiency improvements to thousands of homes across the country, and we’re keen to continue this work with Government.

“However, we are disappointed that no funding for supported housing has been announced. We are deeply concerned about the perilous state of supported housing and homeless prevention services such as floating support. Last year, one in three supported housing providers had to close schemes because of funding pressures. We are now awaiting the government’s long-term homelessness strategy, and we hope that long-term ring-fenced funding for supported housing is forthcoming to prevent future closures.”

Jonathan Layzell, Chief Executive at Stonewater, said: “The Chancellor has rightly focused this Budget on tackling the cost of living. It is the necessary precursor to improving economic growth.

“So often that growth begins at home, and we need to build many more. The announcement of £48million for 350 new planners is a welcome step to unblock the system.

“Taken with the £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme announced earlier this year, the sector is well positioned to support the Government’s target of 1.5 million new homes.

“However, we would have liked to have seen the Warm Homes Plan published, as we know energy prices are one of the key factors impacting the cost of living for households across the country.

“We urge the Government to prioritise publishing the Warm Homes Plan as soon as possible, and to provide a long-term funding commitment of at least ten years. This stability is essential to unlock the supply chain investment needed for a sustainable, large-scale retrofit programme – one that cuts energy bills and eases pressure on the NHS by preventing illnesses caused by poor-quality homes.

“Stability in funding is vital. Not only does it allow us to build more homes, but it also helps us support existing customers feeling the strain of the economic climate.

“We also need to make sure investment reaches every community. Clear mechanisms are vital to address the housing crisis in rural areas, where the need is acute and delivery costs are high. We continue to ask the Treasury to ringfence a proportion of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme funding for rural locations where existing large-scale models simply do not work.

“Stonewater stands ready to work with the government to deliver these critical priorities. Success hinges on translating broad funding pledges into targeted, practical policy action.”

Graeme Anderson, CEO, bdht, said: “The continued commitment to the £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme, despite the recent reshuffles, provides more positive outcomes for low-income families, of which we see many in Bromsgrove, by increasing the availability of affordable homes.

“The chancellor’s decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap in full will also ease pressures on families. According to data provided by the End Child Poverty Coalition, this will lift approximately 250,000 children out of poverty and mean 850,000 are in less deep poverty, resulting in a transformational impact on households in our town and across the country.

“The lack of clarity on Rent Convergence at this stage is disappointing, but we are pleased by the news of £3.4bn over the next three years from the Warm Homes Plan. For organisations like ours, this investment will help us maintain affordability for tenants while continuing to protect the long-term sustainability of our homes.

“However, significant investment means nothing if there continues to be a bottleneck in the delivery of homes. That’s why the announcement of £48 million for 350 new planners within the wider planning reform is another important move. We hope this will result in greater pace, allowing projects to move from concept to construction more quickly.”

Phil Andrew, Orbit Group Chief Executive, said: “Given the positive housing measures announced in the Spending Review, it came as no surprise that today’s budget focused on driving other areas of economic growth. However, we remain confident in the Government’s continued commitment to tackling the UK’s housing crisis. Whilst it’s a positive sign that the OBR predicts that net additions will rise sharply in 2029-30, it’s also a firm reminder that making an impactful difference will take perseverance and time. We must continue to work together to deliver much-needed homes over the long term. At Orbit, we remain committed to playing our part, having recently increased our new build and regeneration commitment to 7,000 homes by 2030, an increase of over 20%.”

Andy Hulme, Chief Executive of The Hyde Group, said: “We warmly welcome the decision to end the two-child benefit cap. This is the right thing to do at a time when more than 4.5m children are estimated to be living in poverty and 1.6m children are affected by the two-child benefit cap.

“Last week, we published research highlighting that England’s 4.3 million social homes provided at least £87bn last year of benefits to the economy, including £18.5bn in savings to the NHS.

“Ahead of the decision on rent convergence in January, we will keep making the case for the value that social housing unlocks for society and the economy to underline the need to make social housing more financially sustainable as the government seeks to build 180,000 social rent homes over the next decade.

“Successive caps and cuts have reduced rents for social homes by 15% over the past decade, at a time when investment needs have grown and social landlords are spending record sums on repairs and maintenance. We would have been able to invest more per year in our customers’ homes and services if the standard rent formula had been maintained since 2016.

“The current absence of rent convergence means that rents at around half (45%) of the social homes we provide are below where they should be.

“We will continue to engage with government to advocate for rent convergence to be reintroduced at £3 a week to provide further resources over the next decade to invest in customers’ homes and to help build new affordable homes.

“Re-introducing rent convergence creates fairness for residents and is crucial because, in the long-run, social rent homes across England which do not meet formula rent become financially unsustainable for social housing charities to continue providing.”

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “Despite claims of tackling cost of living pressures, the government is pursuing a policy that the Office Budget Responsibility has made clear will drive up rents.

“Almost one million new homes to rent are needed by 2031. But this Budget will clobber tenants with higher costs while doing nothing to improve access to the homes people need.”

Lee Bloomfield, chief executive of Manningham Housing Association, said: “As a housing association which places a special emphasis on providing high quality affordable properties for larger families, the removal of the two-child benefit cap is positive news which will help to lift a sizeable number of children out of poverty.

“That said, I am concerned that many more people on the lowest incomes will be dragged into paying income tax by the Chancellor choosing to extend the £12,570 personal allowance threshold until 2031.

“Added to ongoing high inflation and an ever-increasing cost of living, this could have a particularly damaging impact on working families in the years ahead.

“It was also disappointing that, as one of the Government’s supposed top priorities, house building was absent from this Budget which I hope is not a sign that it has fallen down its policy agenda.

“The additional funds allocated to the West Yorkshire Mayor to invest in local areas is certainly welcome and I, along with colleagues in the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership, will be engaging with Tracy Brabin and her team to discuss how communities in Bradford and Keighley can benefit from these monies.”

Paul Teverson, Chair of the Retirement Housing Group, said: “We recognise the fiscal challenges the country faces but this Budget does little to help older people, particularly those who want to downsize into homes better suited to their needs. Not reducing or reforming stamp duty blocks those in later life from moving and limits the release of family homes for younger people. The RHG has called for downsizing to be supported as it would free up housing, reduce NHS demand, deliver health and social care savings, and increase independence in later life. It would also add billions of pounds to the economy through the development of more specialist housing for older people.

“We repeat our call for the government to act on the clear recommendations made by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. It set out a roadmap for expanding retirement housing and improving affordability and consumer understanding and awareness. The continued delay in publishing the long-promised Housing Strategy also leaves retirement housing operators without the certainty they need to invest.

“Retirement housing is not a luxury. It is essential infrastructure, and with the right policies we can ensure older citizens have the housing and care choices they need to live safely, securely and independently.”

Andrew Teacher, co-founder at Lauder Teacher, a real estate advisory firm, said: “The long-trailed mansion tax may play to the gallery, but bypassing the opportunity to overhaul a deeply outdated council-tax framework is a major missed opportunity.”

“There is a rational argument for taxing underoccupied high-value homes to incentivise downsizing, but without coordinated tax and planning policy this will not happen. If government genuinely wanted to support downsizers it would reduce stamp duty on final homes and introduce incentives for senior living.”

“The levy only applies above £2 million yet ignores that many affluent households already underpay council tax relative to asset value. It also overlooks the reality that social care and early-years funding gaps are most acute at local authority level. Token handouts for libraries and playgrounds will achieve little when billions of pounds in unspent Section 106 receipts remain unused.”

“Had the government not wasted political capital on internal disputes, it could have used its majority to undertake long-overdue reform to council tax and business rates.”

“A full revaluation is more than 30 years overdue. It is dispiriting that ministers continue to avoid the structural changes required.”

Catherine Ryder, Chief Executive of PlaceShapers, said: “Measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis, removing the two child benefit cap and initiatives aimed at strengthening employment prospects are all welcome steps that will help reduce the pressures that many households are facing. However, we remain concerned that the freeze to the Local Housing Allowance is pushing people in private rent into unnecessary hardship.

“The broader emphasis on driving economic growth is vital. The sector stands ready to make the most of the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme to build new homes that will support this ambition and work with government to drive forward regeneration where it’s needed most. The reintroduction of rent convergence will further help housing associations to shore-up their plans to build new homes and invest in their existing homes and we look forward to seeing further detail on this soon.

“As organisations rooted in our communities, we know that building homes is only part of the solution; investing in the people who live in them is just as important. The announcements are a welcome acknowledgement that some people are struggling and need more support from the government to live well.

“PlaceShapers was proud to stand alongside 40 organisations in pressing the government to increase the Local Housing Allowance, and we remain a committed partner in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trussell Trust Guarantee Our Essentials campaign.

“Both the budget and the earlier Spending Review show the government sees housing associations as key partners in building new homes and delivering economic renewal. We look forward to building on this relationship to address challenges in meeting new requirements on existing homes and regenerating our homes and communities so they are fit for the future and deliver the quality of homes that every resident has the right to expect.

Fiona Colley, Director of Social Change at Homeless Link, said: “With the cross-government Homelessness Strategy on its way, we’ve been looking forward to a Budget that enables a whole-government approach to ending and preventing homelessness.  And with homelessness continuing to rise, a Budget that empowers frontline services to scale up their support for people facing the trauma of homelessness is urgently needed.

“In today’s Budget, we saw a number of positive measures that could help us move beyond the current crisis.”

“We’re very pleased to see the Treasury commit to a review of funding for homelessness services, including how to improve the supply of good quality supported housing. This has been a key ask of our Breaking the Cycle campaign, and is a vital step in building a more effective approach to homelessness support and prevention.

“The commitment to introduce new earned income disregards in Housing Benefit for claimants in supported housing is welcome . If implemented correctly, this change has the potential to remedy a long-standing flaw in the benefits system which means those living in supported housing can be left financially worse-off when they start working.

“The removal of the two-child benefit limit also has the potential to significantly reduce child poverty, and so act to prevent homelessness upstream.

“There are areas where we would have liked to see the Chancellor go further. The sector has long been calling for reform to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and it is deeply disappointing to see no movement on this in today’s statement. This will put more people at risk of homelessness, and do nothing to help the thousands of households trapped in temporary accommodation.

“Beyond today’s announcements, we urge the Treasury to build on the positive measures by continuing to play a full and committed role in the inter-ministerial Group on Tackling Rough Sleeping and Homelessness – both as it finalises the design of the cross-government Homelessness Strategy and begins implementation.

“Only with a central commitment from the Treasury to marshal the resources of government will we turn the tide on record levels of homelessness that continue to devastate lives.”