Insights

UK housing associations reduce spending on affordable homes for 2024

Market Insight
05/01/2024

Reduction in spending on new affordable homes

Multi-year analysis conducted by Centrus has revealed that UK housing associations are having to make difficult decisions, with a significant reduction in the spending on new affordable homes for 2024 onwards. 

Plans drawn-up last year cut expected investment for 2024 by 9%, or £1.5bn, compared with the previous year’s forecast, while funding over the coming decade was cut by £20bn, or 15% (Centrus, 2023).

John Tattersall, Managing Director at Centrus, shared his thoughts on the research with The Financial Times, encouraging policy-makers to provide radical support to a “resilient” and “mission-focused” sector. 

“The substantial decrease in spending on new home delivery is driven by three core challenges; increased costs of building, increased costs of debt, and competing priorities. 
 
Assuming the election next year results in a change of party, we are likely to see affordable housing shoot up the political agenda – and rightly so. Housing associations are unsung heroes in the UK. Social housing is held to extremely high standards of tenancy conditions relative to the private sector. While charging lower rents, providers are working tirelessly to deliver high quality homes for people in need while navigating an economic landscape which is especially tricky given their business models.” 

John Tattersall, Managing Director – Centrus

Click here for Joshua Oliver’s article in The Financial Times.