In today's Autumn Statement (22nd November), chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt explained what the government will be doing to improve housing in the UK.
Hunt placed high importance on raising the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) and enhancing the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme.
• extend the existing Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme by £3bn to help it deliver 20,000 new homes, in addition to improving the quality and efficiency of thousands more
• raise LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024 to benefit 1.6 million low-income households, who will be around £800 a year better off on average in 2024-25
• reduce employee national insurance tax from 12% to 10% — a £450 yearly tax cut for the average person earning £35,400, to be implemented from January 2024
• provide £3m for a range of measures to improve the home buying and selling process
• introduce premium planning services across England with guaranteed accelerated decision dates for major applications and fee refunds wherever these are not met to improving the existing patchwork approach of Planning Performance Agreements
• commit £110m available through the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund to support LPAs in delivering high quality local nutrient offsetting schemes, unlocking up to 40,000 homes over the next five years
• provide £5m to incentivise greater use of local development orders in England, to end delays for businesses so that key commercial projects secure planning permission faster
• invest an additional £32m across housing and planning to unlock thousands of homes across the country
• invest £5m in additional funding for DLUHC’s Planning Skills Delivery Fund so that LPAs can target development application backlogs
• introduce a consultation on a new Permitted Development Right which allows homeowners to subdivide homes into two flats without changing the exterior, to be implemented in 2024
