Government announces £5bn fund to tackle housing crisis

The Government has unveiled plans to address the housing crisis via a £3bn fund to help build 25,000 new homes by the end of 2020.

The Home Building Fund, which will use money already saved for housing schemes, is set to provide loans in an effort to urge developers and businesses to begin new projects.

Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also announced that a further £2bn will be borrowed to create a new “Accelerated Construction” plan which will make unused public land available for development.

As well as building 25,000 new homes by 2020, the Home Building Fund will help fund the build of up to 225,000 in the longer term.

The “Accelerated Construction” scheme is also expected to allow the building of a further 15,000 in the same period.

This announcement was made by Chancellor Philip Hammond and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid during the second day of the Conservative Party’s annual conference.

Mr Hammond stated: “There has been a housing shortage in this country for decades, and the Government is determined to take action to tackle it.

“We’ll use all the tools at our disposal to accelerate house building and ensure that over time, housing becomes more affordable, that is why we are committing £2bn of additional investment towards this.”

Mr Javid added: “We want to ensure everyone has a safe and secure place to live. That means we’ve got to build more homes.

“It is only by building more houses that we will alleviate the financial burden on those who are struggling to manage.”