Spring Statement 2025 – NHC on-the-day briefing

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On 26th March the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves delivered the Spring Statement. The government had previously signalled their intention to deliver only one fiscal event per year, in the Autumn, with a smaller economic forecast update taking place each Spring. As a result, this event did not include a significant number of major new policy announcements.

As trailed earlier in the week, one of the few headline policy announcements was the £2bn top-up to the Affordable Homes Programme, something we at the Northern Housing Consortium had been calling for in the run-up to the Spring Statement.

The majority of this funding will be available to 2026/27, extending the current AHP by a year, and will be focused on social rent. The NHC has been in contact with MHCLG and government officials are keen to stress that this is a “downpayment” ahead of a full programme at Spending Review in June, and that social housing providers who want to develop should be talking to Homes England about potential schemes as soon as possible.

 Following this announcement, the Housing Minister wrote to chief executives of all housing associations, through the Northern Housing Consortium and other sector bodies. In his letter, the Minister confirmed that the details of the next grant funding programme will be confirmed at the Spending Review, set to conclude in June, and that this new funding will prioritise the development of new homes for social rent.

Demonstrating strong demand to spend this funding will also make the strongest possible case to the Government for increasing funding levels at the Spending Review.

The NHC On-the-Day Briefing sets out the key announcements for the housing sector in the North, both in the statement and in the run up. These are outlined below:

  • £2 billion of new funding and a one-year extension for the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) “as a down payment” on future investment in developing new social homes. This new funding will aim to build an additional 18,000 new  homes.
  • £625 million worth of investment over four years in construction skills to help in their aims of building 1.5 million homes before the next election.The funding aims to train up to 60,000 more workers by 2029 as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
  • An update on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimates on the planning reforms included in the NPPF.
  • Reforms to the welfare system, including the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the Universal Credit health element
  • Increases to departmental and local government spending – total government capital spending will be increased by a further £13 billion over the Parliament, beyond the increases announced at the Autumn Budget, “to support growth-enhancing investments including infrastructure, housing, and defence innovation”. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, local authorities and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are all set to see increases in various budgets.

 

NHC Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison said:

“We welcome the Chancellor’s focus on building much-needed social housing with the £2 billion top up to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) and plans to invest £600m to train a new generation of builders. We called for immediate action in the Spring Statement on the AHP so our members can continue to build much needed social rent homes at a time when housing waiting lists and homelessness are rising in the North.

“All eyes are on now on the Spending Review in the summer, where details of a longer-term affordable housing fund are expected. Alongside this, Government should invest in the North’s brownfield land, where there is capacity for 320,000 new homes. A ten-year £4.2 billion programme would remediate all the North’s brownfield land.

“Housing quality is a big issue in the North, affecting the health and wellbeing of thousands of Northerners, particularly in the private rented sector. Regeneration must be at the front and centre of government policy, alongside building new homes. Our spending review submission calls for a dedicated funding stream of £1.37 billion over 5 years for place-based renewal, alongside continuing flexibility in a new Affordable Homes Programme to support regeneration.”

“Our members are regulated on the quality of their homes and their service to customers and rightly must prioritise finite resources to these areas. This means that long term funding for improving existing homes and places will unlock more investment and capacity for building the new homes that the sector is so keen to support with.”

This NHC On-the-Day briefing summarises these, and other relevant announcements. If you would like to discuss any of the details in the Spring Statement, please contact:

Patrick Murray, Executive Director (Policy and Public Affairs)

Read the On-the-Day Briefing here.