Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Number of new social homes 'could fall by 65%'
Mon 14 Jun 2010
The National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned that the number of new social homes built in England this year could fall by 65 per cent.
According to the group, house building activity is being put in jeopardy by various factors.
For instance, it noted that £100 million will be cut from the National Affordable Housing Programme, which means plans to build another 1,453 social homes this year will not come to fruition.
In addition, the NHF stated that "sweeping changes" to the planning system have made it more and more difficult to get new homes constructed.
The group has therefore called on the government to honour its spending commitments for the current financial year and not make any more changes to the planning system.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said the country "cannot afford" the building of affordable homes to "grind to a halt", as a record 4.5 million people are on waiting lists in England.
This coincides with similar warnings from Shelter, which said cuts in the government's investment in housing would lead to job losses and destabilise the economy.
