Labour hits out as ministers admit just 5% of new 'affordable' homes will be in cheapest category
2 min read
Only five percent of new homes funded under a government scheme will be of the most affordable kind, it has been revealed.
Prime Minister Theresa May has previously pledged to build “new generation of social homes", which are pegged to local incomes to keep them affordable.
However, responding to a parliamentary question from Labour, Housing Secretary James Brokenshire said: "The £9bn Affordable Homes Programme will deliver at least 250,000 homes by March 2022.
"At least 12,500 of these will be for social rent outside of London. The Greater London Authority has the flexibility to deliver social rent in London."
The remaining 237,500 homes not set for social rent outside of London are likely to be at the more expensive "affordable" housing rent, which are available to let at 80 percent of their market value.
Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary condemned the revelation as "not good enough".
Speaking to the Independent - which first reported on the figures - John Healey said: "There’s been a disastrous fall in the number of new genuinely affordable homes for social rent under the Conservatives.
We are now building over 30,000 fewer social rented homes a year than when I was Labour’s last housing minister in 2010.
"Ministers’ flawed definition of ‘affordable housing’ includes homes for sale at up to £450,000 and to let at 80 per cent of market rents, so it’s just not good enough for ministers to only commit a tiny fraction of the affordable homes budget to new social rented homes."
Housing and homelessness charities also made their concerns public.
Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes told the Independent: "It is very disappointing to see such a tiny proportion of the properties to be delivered through the Affordable Homes Programme being made available for social rent.
"Research shows we need 90,000 social homes built every year for the next 15 years to meet demand – both for those experiencing homelessness, and for those on low incomes, many of whom are at risk of homelessness."
But Housing Minister Kit Malthouse said governments "of all stripes" had built "too few homes of all types, including for affordable and social rent".
He added: "We’re correcting this with massive investment in house building, including the £9bn affordable homes programme, but also by setting councils free to build the social homes their communities need.
"We expect many thousands of new homes to result and we share the impatience of the British people to see decent homes built for the next generation."
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