UK budget 2017 sets out how to build 300,000 homes a year
UK Chancellor of the Excheqner Philip Hammond said next week’s budget will set out how the government will build 300,000 new homes a year.
But chancellor of the exchequer said there was no ‘single magic bullet’ to increase housing supply and the government would not simply ‘pour money in’.
According to BBC, ministers want to speed up developments where planning permission has been granted and give more help to small building ¿rms, he added. Labour said ministers “still have no plan to ¿x the housing crisis”. Speaking on the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show ahead of Wednesday’s budget, the chancellor also said:
● “There are no unemployed people” while discussing the threat to jobs posed by technological change — when pressed later, he said the government hadn’t forgotten the 1.4 million who are unemployed
● The government was ‘on the brink’ of making “some serious movement forward” in the Brexit negotiations.
● Ministers would not withdraw a controversial bid to enshrine the exact Brexit date in law
● The health service will not face ‘Armageddon’ if it is not given a £4 billion funding boost demanded by the boss of NHS England
More houses needed
The shortage of housing is expected to be one of the themes of the budget, with Hammond under pressure to ease the dif¿culties faced by ¿rst-time buyers trying to get a deposit.
He said it was ‘not acceptable’ that young people ¿nd it so hard to buy a home, and promised to set out how the government would keep its ‘pledge to the next generation’.
He did not commit to the £50 billion reportedly being demanded by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to ¿nance a house-building drive, but committed to the target of 300,000 new homes in England.