Fresh Hope for the Future

Building Britain’s resilience and improving living standards

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Healey, has set out the Government’s ambition to put the country on a stronger long-term footing, including measures to improve housing provision, strengthen national resilience and support people at every stage of life.

Mr Healey announced that the Budget prioritises investment in social and affordable housing, action to tackle rough sleeping, opportunities for first-time buyers and measures to help young people into employment.

It also sets out the Government’s longer-term ambitions for pension security, personal care and adult social care, with the aim of delivering greater stability, security and opportunity for families and communities nationwide.

Fresh Hope on Housing

The Government is prioritising housing investment in its various forms, recognising the importance of a safe, secure and affordable home for individuals, families and communities.

Key measures include:

•     Building more social and affordable homes: An additional £1.5 billion will be allocated to deliver around 10,000 homes in England, with funding prioritised for Social Rent, particularly council housing. This will bring total investment in the Social and Affordable Homes Programme to more than £40 billion over 10 years.

•     Tackling rough sleeping: Further funding will support the Government’s commitment to ending rough sleeping, ensuring that people have a route off the streets on a sustained basis, rather than receiving only short-term support.

•     Helping more people onto the housing ladder: The Government will support 70,000 households in accessing homeownership by confirming £4.7 billion for the new Your First Home equity-loan scheme for first-time buyers and setting out its final details.

Over the next decade, Mr Healey said the Government intends to begin delivering the largest council housebuilding programme since the post-war era, while continuing to encourage private-sector housebuilding. Its forthcoming 10-year plan will set out reforms to strengthen councils’ capacity to build at scale, reduce the complexity and cost of development and release public land for affordable housing.

Fresh Hope for Every Generation

The Chancellor also announced that the Government has set out measures to improve opportunities for young people and to establish a longer-term framework to support older people. Its approach focuses on helping young people into employment and on developing a more secure settlement for retirement and adult social care.

Key measures include:

•     Supporting young people into work: The Budget will deliver the Jobs Guarantee for eligible 18- to 24-year-olds receiving Universal Credit and invest £100 million in local apprenticeship services. The Government has stated that it will not write off the nearly one million young people who are not in education, employment or training. A White Paper is due early next year, following the publication of Alan Milburn’s final report and the conclusion of the Timms Review.

•     Developing a long-term settlement for older people: From the next Parliament, the Government intends to adjust the Triple Lock to help fund a new settlement for older people. This would combine an annual increase in the State Pension with free personal care at the point of use and a high-quality National Care Service in England, providing greater security in later life.

•     Strengthening the future of adult social care: The Prime Minister has agreed with Baroness Casey that her Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will report in 2027, informing the Government’s longer-term approach to care provision.

Taken together, these measures set out the Government’s plans to increase housing supply, expand access to homeownership, improve employment prospects for young people and address the longer-term needs of an ageing population. Further details on housing and wider reforms will be set out in the Government’s 10-year plan.

Mr Healey said the Budget would begin the significant changes needed to put the country on a better path, spanning housing to national security, to strengthen Britain’s resilience and help ensure the next generation is better off.