A further £24 million is being injected into building more new affordable homes in Wales, Housing Minister, Julie James has announced this week.

In our 2016 Welsh Labour manifesto, we committed to building 20,000 affordable homes across Wales. By March 2019, 13,143 new homes had already been built. The changes that we have made in Government means that more high-quality homes are being built in a shorter time than ever before. This includes 2,592 affordable housing units delivered across Wales in 2018/19, which was 12% higher than the previous years and the highest annual total to date.

This additional injection of funding will see £6 million in general capital funding allocated to the Social Housing Grant (SHG) programme, which plays a critical role in increasing the supply of both new social and intermediate housing.

This is in addition to the extra £50 million allocated as part of the capital investment package announced in June 2019, bringing the total allocation to the SHG grant programme to £127.2 million in 2019/20.

Further to this, £17.8 million in financial transactional capital (loans) is being made to the Help to Buy Wales and Property Loan schemes.

Help to Buy Wales has already exceeded its target of supporting 6,000 people to buy a new home during this term of government, achieving over 6,500 completions as of 30 September 2019.

Housing Minister, Julie James said:

“Ensuring everyone can have a good quality, affordable home is my number one priority as Wales’ Housing Minister. So I’m pleased to be able to report we are on track to delivering the 20,000 new affordable homes we promised as part of our Programme for Government – with 65% of homes already delivered.

 

But we want to build more homes, at pace, and at scale. The additional investment I am announcing today will help us meet that pledge, helping to boost the construction sector and ensuring people have the home they need, which supports a healthy, successful and prosperous life.

 

By the end of this current term of government, we will have invested more than £2 billion in housing across Wales – a clear indication of the importance we attached to delivering more good-quality homes, which are the bedrock of good communities and form the basis for individuals and families to flourish in all aspects of their lives.”

 

The funding is part of the Welsh Government’s second supplementary budget for this current financial year (2019/20). It sees an additional £108 million in capital funding being invested in the Welsh Government’s key priorities.