The government has announced a £350 million package of investment to increase the number of affordable and social homes, support homeownership and ease council housing pressures

According to the government, up to 2,800 extra homes will be built through a £300m boost to the Affordable Homes Programme, with half for social rent, and over 250 more council homes through a £50 million boost to the Local Authority Housing Fund to provide homes for people in need of better-quality temporary accommodation.

And the government says it will set out further changes soon aimed at helping the most vulnerable in society, with a crackdown on exploitative behaviour by rogue and criminal supported housing landlords.

Housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “For so many families, and their children, the security and safety of a home of their own remains firmly out of reach – and instead they have to live in temporary accommodation, including in B&Bs.

“This is unacceptable and is the result of the housing crisis we are facing head on. That’s why we’re driving forward on our plans to ensure a better future for everyone who needs a safe home, building on our plans to drive up living standards and build 1.5 million homes through our Plan for Change.”

The funding package follows a £500m investment announced in last autumn’s budget for up to 5,000 more homes affordable homes, further backing the programme’s original £11.5 billion which is expected to result in up to 130,000 homes by 2026, and the £450m already provided to 150 councils across the country to help ease pressure on homelessness services, reduce spending on unsuitable B&B accommodation, and provide safe and sustainable housing.

The investment will support a mix of tenures, with a focus on delivering homes for social rent.

Alongside the £50 million increase to the Local Authority Housing Fund, approximately £30 million of funding is being reallocated from previous rounds, taking the number of houses that will be delivered by the third round to more than 2,700 homes. Councils that submitted applications will be contacted in the following few days to inform them of the funding allocations.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “Today’s funding announcement demonstrates that the government recognises that boosting funding for new affordable homes, particularly those for social rent, is essential to meeting its ambitious housing targets and commitment to building a generation of new social homes.

“Housing associations share the government’s housing ambitions and we welcome this top-up to the Affordable Homes Programme. The funding announced today – in addition to the funding announced in the autumn – will help maintain momentum in the delivery of much needed social and affordable housing ahead of the new Affordable Homes Programme being announced at the Spending Review.

“Housing associations are facing a number of financial challenges due to decades of funding cuts. Alongside this vital funding injection, we hope to see a package of supportive measures at the upcoming Spending Review to enable the sector to build the homes our country needs.”

Gavin Smart, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The housing crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing the country, and we know that increasing the supply of truly affordable homes is key to tackling homelessness, easing pressure on local authorities, and driving economic growth. This additional investment into affordable housing is therefore very welcome and will help support the delivery of much-needed affordable homes ahead of a new Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) at the forthcoming Spending Review.

“The confirmation that 50% of the additional investment in the AHP will be used to support building new homes at social rent is particularly welcome as these are the most affordable and needed. Expanding the Local Housing Fund will help local authorities respond to the huge rise in the need for temporary accommodation which has put huge pressure on council funds and made life very difficult for some of the most vulnerable. Going forward, we hope the government will use the next fiscal update to confirm sustained, long-term investment to meet the scale of demand and ensure everyone has access to a safe, secure, and affordable home.

“We also welcome confirmation of action to implement the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act. It is right that the government moves to clamp down on a small minority of exploitative supported housing landlords who are providing unacceptable poor homes to vulnerable people. We look forward to seeing more details here and to working with government, housing providers, and local authorities to ensure these commitments translate into real change on the ground.”

Andy Hulme, CEO of The Hyde Group, said: “Combined with the extra £500m announced last year, this government has now backed the Affordable Homes Programme with almost £1bn (£800m) of extra funding since coming to power.

“It’s important to welcome this increased funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, which we hope is a downpayment on future funding, as it comes at a time when the number of new homes started by housing associations in London has fallen to a record low.

“We welcome the direction and intent behind this one-off funding.

“However, the most important thing the government can do is to make social housing financially sustainable so we can play our part in meeting the government’s 1.5m new homes target in this parliament. To achieve this the government needs to agree to an expanded long-term Affordable Homes Programme at the spending review, and an ambitious ten-year, inflation-linked settlement for social rents which is greater than CPI+1%, and critically to reintroduce and accelerate rent convergence.”

Andrew Carpenter, CEO of Structural Timber Association, said: “The government’s £350 million investment announced today is no doubt a positive move. But there is a lot more work to do.

“If Sir Keir Starmer is to succeed where many a Premiership has failed on housing, the Government must embrace change – change in how we build and the materials we use.

“Timber frame takes less time to install than masonry and can, according to Future Homes Standards, deliver a 16 percent carbon saving during construction. There is existing capacity in the established structural timber manufacturing sector to rapidly double timber frame manufacturing output to achieve 100,000 homes per annum – equivalent to one-in-three of the 300,000 homes needed each year.”