Budget 2024: Rachel Reeves to announce £500m new houses in Budget – reducing some rents by half

Rachel Reeves is set to announce £500 million to build 5,000 new affordable homes – many of them for social rent – in Wendesday’s Budget.

The ‘top up’ for the Affordable Homes programme is aimed at delivering a mix of homes to buy, and to rent for below market rate, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent. Social homes usually have rent set at around 50% of the market rate.

And as the Sunday Mirror revealed in July, she’ll announce measures to allow councils and other social providers to invest in more social housing.

Councils will be given assurances on the rent levels they can charge – so they have the financial stability to borrow to build new homes. The 5,000 extra homes are on top of those already being built under the Affordable Homes scheme – bringing the total to 33,000.

And it comes ahead of the Government’s Housing Strategy due in the Spring, which will outline how they plan to build 1.5 million homes by 2029.

Ms Reeves said: “We need to fix the housing crisis in this country. It’s created a generation locked out of the property market, torn apart communities and put the brakes on economic growth. We are rebuilding Britain by ramping up housebuilding and delivering the 1.5 million new homes we so badly need”.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We have inherited a housing system which is broken, with not enough homes being built and even fewer that families can afford. This is a further significant step in our plan to get Britain building again, backing the sector, so they can help us deliver a social and affordable housing boom, supporting millions of people up and down the country into a safe, affordable and decent home they can be proud of.”