by René Lavanchy
The Government risks missing its target for affordable housing by more than half a million homes if it does not protect the housing budget, housing associations warned this week.
Gordon Brown vowed in 2007 to build three million homes, including one million “affordable” homes below market prices, by 2020.
But the National Housing Federation says that if departmental budget cuts predicted by economists on the basis of last year’s pre-Budget report take place next year, only 440,000 affordable homes will be built.
An NHF spokesperson said: “We have seen some significant investment in the sector. The big fear is it’ll drop like a stone and the increases could go into sharp decline.
“The understanding was, to achieve that target, extra investment would be poured in, whereas it looks like the opposite will happen.” Housing associations were currently “on course” to meet the target, they added.
Private housebuilding, including through associations, has declined following the credit crunch. Eileen Short of Defend Council Housing said the problem showed that councils built housing more cheaply and reliably than housing associations – which the NHF denies.
The Department for Communities and Local Government would not comment on budget cuts or whether extra investment had been promised.
