Housing shutterstock 621255626

Source: Shutterstock

A quick overview of the key measures affecting housing and the wider construction sector:

On housing:

  • £15.3bn additional spending for housing, meaning £44bn to be spent in total over the next five years
  • Review by Oliver Letwin of reasons why planning permission not implemented
  • Planning reforms including strengthening the proposed Housing Delivery Test and minimum densities for urban areas
  • Support for five Garden Towns in the South-east with New Town Corporation powers
  • Funding includes a £1.1bn Land Assembly Fund and £2.7bn for the Housing Infrastructure fund
  • Help for small builders including £630m for the remediation of small sites and £8bn of guarantees to underwrite loans
  • Stamp duty abolished for first time buyers on properties up to £300,000 in value
  • £1bn of further borrowing headroom for councils to invest in building affordable homes

Other key points:

  • £8bn expansion fo the £23bn National Productivity Investment Fund
  • £65m to support a National Retraining Scheme, which will focus on parts of the economy facing skills shortages, such as construction
  • £28m for Kensington and Chelsea council to pay for local support including a new community space and regeneration of the Lancaster West Estate
  • £320m to be invested in former Redcar steelworks site
  • £1.7bn transport fund for city regions and second devolution deal for the West Midlands
  • £2bn for Scottish government, £1.2bn for Welsh government and £650m for Northern Ireland executive
  • Further £3.5bn of capital funding for NHS to move towards £10bn capital investment fund for hospital called for in Naylor Review