UK Budget allocates £1 billion for social and affordable housing initiatives

The chancellor announced on Wednesday that the Budget will earmark more than £1 billion for social and affordable housing in England, pushing total funding for the government’s ten‑year homes programme past £40 billion. At the same time, the Budget will give English mayors and regional leaders new powers and a fresh borrowing facility to finance local projects, including house‑building, high‑street regeneration and transport upgrades.

The move comes as housing shortages tighten and the central government seeks to shift decision‑making closer to communities. The Labour government has pledged to deliver more homes and to reduce reliance on fragmented Whitehall funding streams. By handing devolved authorities the “right to decide their own future”, the chancellor hopes to speed up projects that have stalled under previous centralised bidding processes. The announcement also follows growing pressure on small breweries after Carlsberg Britvic said it would close the historic Marston’s site in Burton‑upon‑Trent, putting 310 jobs at risk.

Under the new plan, an initial £285 million of transitional seed funding will be allocated next year to support mayors and other local leaders. A separate £1.5 billion borrowing facility, slated for launch in 2028, will let regions tap capital at preferential interest rates to fund housing, infrastructure and high‑street revitalisation. The Treasury said the scheme will be open to areas that are not yet strategic authorities, allowing them to unlock growth projects. In addition, the Budget will contain extra support for small breweries, a move the chancellor described as a bid to “turn the tide for our pint producers”.

Mayors and regional bodies welcomed the package, saying it will give them the tools to deliver ambitious plans. Claire Ward, chair of the UK Mayors Network, said the funding and powers could turn “ambitious plans into reality”. London mayor Sadiq Khan said the borrowing facility could unlock transformational projects such as the West London Orbital rail link. Opposition figures warned the government must also meet defence spending targets, with Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith threatening to call for Healey’s resignation if the UK fails to reach 3 % of GDP on defence by 2030. The next steps will involve detailed negotiations between the Treasury and local authorities to design the borrowing framework and allocate the seed funding.