Two thirds of the housing infrastructure fund remains unspent since 2017
Despite being launched seven years ago and the majority of the UK being in the pits of a housing crisis, two thirds of the fund remain untouched.
Through a freedom of information (FOI) request, local government researcher Jack Shaw discovered that the fund, which is worth £4.2bn, has only had £1.3bn removed from its pot.
When the fund was launched in 2017 the government claimed that its key aim was to unlock new homes ‘in areas with the greatest housing demand’, but as the UK has been plunged into arguably it’s biggest housing crisis and more people are facing homelessness, it suggests the money was not earmarked for such a purpose.
Against this backdrop, the government confirmed to the Financial Times that work had begun on fewer than one in 10 of the promised homes. In addition, the delivery of homes to be delivered through the housing infrastructure fund have been reduced from 340,000 to 270,000 after various schemes were scrapped or had their money withdrawn.
One example of this is last month the government pulled funding from a £170m council-led housing scheme in Kent.
However, the department for levelling up, housing and communities have responded to the FOI and have claimed they are ‘confident’ that they will ‘provide all £4.2bn of the [fund] to local authorities across all regions of England, unlocking up to 270,000 homes. More than 23,000 homes have already started construction and expenditure is on track.’
A spokesperson from the department of levelling up, housing and communities said: ‘Major infrastructure projects understandably take time to deliver, and we recognise the challenging backdrop that capital programmes have experienced due to cost pressures and other factors.
‘We continue to work very closely with Homes England to make sure all the programme budget is spent, and the maximum possible housing capacity is unlocked.’
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