The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today outlined his Budget, unveiling a £24bn pot for housing investment and reducing the universal credit taper rate from 63% to 55%.

Below are the sector responses.

Responding to the Budget, Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at JRF said: “This is a tale of two Budgets for families on low incomes. For those in work, the change to the taper rate and work allowance, alongside the National Living Wage increase, are very positive steps, allowing low-paid workers to keep more of what they earn.

“Together these measures improve our social security system for working families and demonstrate a serious intent to turn the tide on the pre-pandemic trend of rising in-work poverty.

“But the reality is that millions of people who are unable to work or looking for work will not benefit from these changes. The Chancellor’s decision to ignore them today as the cost of living rises risks deepening poverty among this group, who now have the lowest main rate of out-of-work support in real terms since around 1990.

“Among the people in our society who cannot work are cancer patients, people with disabilities and those caring for young children or elderly parents. Their energy bills and weekly shop are going up like everyone else’s and they face immediate hardship, hunger and debt in the months ahead.

“The Chancellor had an opportunity to support families on the lowest incomes to weather the storm ahead, and he did not take it.”

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, said: “Everyone deserves a stable place to live and the support they need to keep it. Therefore, we are pleased that Rishi Sunak has clearly listened to the concerns and needs of our members in the homelessness sector, giving them the stability of funding to provide meaningful support to people experiencing homelessness as we leave the pandemic behind, with many of our members reporting that rough sleeping is rising again.

“While the £640m pa announced towards tackling homelessness and rough sleeping is £110m less than the spend for this year, it is still a marked rise on pre-pandemic levels of investment.

“The full details of the money announced are as yet unclear, and there’s still a lot of work to do and measures to bring in for the Government to meet its target of ending rough sleeping by 2024, but today’s budget is a welcome confirmation of their ongoing commitment. We look forward to working together with Government to make its target a reality.”

The National Housing Federation said: “The additional £1.8bn for brownfield regeneration is welcome news, alongside last week’s confirmation of the next wave of Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which represents an important step toward reaching our net zero ambitions.

“While it won’t mitigate the full impact of the loss of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, particularly during the winter months and for people who aren’t working, it is positive that the government has recognised the need to support families on the lowest incomes by reducing the Universal Credit taper.

“We also welcome the focus on homelessness prevention and longer term commitment to reduce homelessness but it is disappointing that there is no additional, long term funding for all forms of supported housing, which is vital for allowing those with support needs to thrive in their home and can reduce pressure on adult social care.

“Unfortunately, the consequences of no additional direct funding to fix building safety issues in social rented homes will be far reaching, leading to a loss of new affordable homes and less money for existing social homes.

“However we support the Residential Property Developer Tax, which goes some way toward holding those responsible for this crisis to account for the cost of making buildings safe in the future.”

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB said: “The Chancellor has missed the opportunity to give householders peace of mind about how they can tackle the net zero challenge. With nothing on retrofit for owner occupiers in last week’s Heat and Buildings Strategy, I’m struggling to see how the country will reach its legally binding net zero targets by 2050 if it doesn’t fix the UK’s 29 million leaky homes.

“However, I’m also glad to see further investment in housing, and warmly welcome the grant funding for local authorities to free-up small brownfield sites for housing given that land availability is the major obstacle to SME house builders.”

Crispin Truman, chief executive of CPRE, said: “The good news is that a truly brownfield first approach does have the potential to breathe new life into those forgotten and derelict parts of our villages, towns and cities that local people want to see regenerated. Brownfield homes are a win-win for nature, climate and the affordable housing crisis.

“But to really bridge the gap between words and action, we must see these commitments backed up by a firm urban ‘brownfield first’ policy when the government revises the National Planning Policy Framework next year. Otherwise, we’ll continue to see poorly designed greenfield developments with no public transport links that siphon off a lot of public money.”

Matthew Walker, Chair of PlaceShapers, said: “The Chancellor said he was not prepared to add to the squeeze on families’. That squeeze comes in many forms – from not having secure housing through to worries about paying bills in the climate of rising inflation. So the figures from today need to translate through into what matters to people: homes, places and jobs.”

The organisation also called for “easier access to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund” and said that despite the taper changes to universal credit, it “won’t make up for losing £1000 and for the cut but it will at least ease the financial strain and worry for some.”

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “Today’s announcement is welcome news for those private tenants who have struggled to afford their rents throughout the pandemic, despite private rents falling in real terms.

“However it does not undo the damage that previous decisions to freeze housing benefit rates in cash terms will cause. It is simply bizarre to have a system in which support for housing costs will no longer track market rents. The Chancellor needs to undo this unjust policy as matter of urgency.”

Steve Douglas CBE, St Mungo’s CEO, said: “It is positive that homelessness is now being recognised as an issue which cuts across departments.

“We urge the Government to utilise its Inter-Ministerial Group on rough sleeping to drive forward its ambition to end rough sleeping by the end of this parliament. And that the new Secretary of Statement ensures that homelessness remains a priority for his department which is responsible for leading the Government’s ‘Levelling up’ agenda.

“Ministers will also need to keep a careful eye on the flow of people coming to our streets as winter approaches, the cost of living increases and the ending of the pandemic support measures take effect.

“If the support announcement in today’s budget are not sufficient we could yet see a dramatic increase in the number of people at risk of, and becoming, homeless over the coming months.”