Key takeaways:
- Announcement of £39bn Affordable Homes Programme hailed as “transformative“
- Ten year social rent settlement for housing associations and local authorities
- Continued investment towards net zero, with go-ahead for Sizewell C Nuclear Plant and £2.5bn for nuclear fusion R+D
- NHS funding to deliver ten year plan
- Potential cuts to policing
- Further defence spending aligns with other European nations
Just over a year since Keir Starmer entered 10 Downing Street, the Chancellor has announced a raft of headline grabbing financial measures for the social housing sector, alongside significant budget growth for the NHS and the defence sector.
Housing
Reflecting on my time at Labour Party Conference last September, I highlighted the loud and repeated calls from housing associations and local authorities for the Government to commit to a 10-year rent settlement and give greater, long-term stability which enable providers to invest in existing housing stock and, fundamentally, build new homes.
In October the Government announced consultation on a five-year rolling settlement with the option for rents to rise by Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one percentage point. This was met by, at best, a muted response and in March the LGA published survey figures that only showed only 38% of local authorities who responded felt the five-year settlement would allow them to invest in new builds.
Today the Chancellor has confirmed a new ten-year social rent settlement, along with a £39bn Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) that the Treasury has called “the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation”. Whilst Rachel Reeves confirmed the announcement in Parliament, it has (like many recent Government milestones) been much trailed across the press and touted as “transformational” by the National Housing Federation, as well as receiving plaudits from across the development industry.
Taken alongside the reforms to planning system, which took another step forward after the Planning and Infrastructure Bill passed its third reading earlier this week, and the AI tool announced at London Tech Week which aims to speed up planning decision, the mood music sounds positive. But there remain several obstacles facing development in the short term which the Government simply cannot address with good vibes alone – not least the cost of land, build costs, Gateway 2 and the shortage of both workers and skills in a post-Brexit construction industry. Oh, and let’s not forget there are more local elections looming in May 2026.
Net zero, nuclear and the NHS
Other department budgets have also been boosted, notably defence spending and the NHS, where Wes Streeting effectively has the funding to implement a ten-year NHS improvement plan. Transport infrastructure has featured highly in the Spending Review, with £2.5bn to create the East-West rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, with another £1.75bn to support infrastructure improvements in the Midlands.
Elsewhere, Ed Miliband’s department gets a sizeable boost with the go-ahead of the Sizewell C Nuclear Plant, which will support the wider net zero goals and likely increased demand on electricity supply. A further £2.5bn has also been earmarked for research and development of fusion energy, helping deliver the prototype nuclear fusion energy plant at West Burton A Power Station in Nottinghamshire – a project which the Cascade team helped Nottinghamshire County Council secure in 2022.
The less good news
Not all departments received positive news though, with the Home Office facing potential cuts to policing budgets – with the Mayor of London and Met Police commission Sir Mark Rowley expressing concerns about the potential impact on the Capital. Whilst not the responsibility of councils, it’s all but certain crime and anti-social behaviour will be hot topics for candidates hitting the doorstep ahead of London-wide elections in May next year.
This year’s Spending Review offers a cautiously optimistic outlook for housing, with long-awaited commitments like the ten-year social rent settlement and £39bn Affordable Homes Programme finally taking shape. Combined with planning reforms and new tech to speed up decisions, there’s clear intent to boost housing delivery, but real progress hinges on tackling high costs, resourcing and bureaucratic systems. Still, the foundations for a more stable and ambitious housing agenda are beginning to solidify.