RIBA responds to social housing boost

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) responds to the announcement of investment in social housing across England confirmed today (26 June 2018) by Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, The Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.

Speaking today, RIBA President Ben Derbyshire said:

“This is a welcome boost, and it is pleasing to see that progress is being made on delivering new homes for social rent. The Secretary of State and the Treasury are to be commended for listening to calls for investment in social housing from across the country – but £1.67 billion investment to build 23,000 new affordable homes will not solve the UK-wide problem.

“We know that investing in thoughtfully designed and well-built new homes is one of the best long-term investments the public sector can make, but we will only see the scale of investment we need if Mayors and Councils are given powers to borrow to build. While we welcome today’s announcement, the stark truth remains that the housing crisis will not be solved without major direct investment by the Government, who must release funds for local authorities across the UK.”