What the Budget means for housing and regeneration

What does last week’s Budget mean for housing and regeneration? Below, our experts share their initial thoughts to help you make sense of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Housing

What’s new?

• A further £1.5bn for 10,000 social and affordable homes, especially social rent and council homes, and a further year of preferential borrowing rates for council housebuilding.
• Additional investment in tackling rough sleeping and support for first-time buyers.

What does this mean for you?

The challenge is increasingly moving from funding and ambition to creating viable programmes and having the capacity and capability to deliver them.

How can Local Partnerships help?

Through the Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS) with the LGA and Homes England, we provide councils with bespoke technical, commercial and project delivery support to establish, accelerate and expand their council housebuilding programmes. (To learn more, join our next CHoSS webinar with LGA on 26 November at 2pm.)

Prisoners Building Homes (PBH) complements this by unlocking public land for affordable housing while combining delivery with skills, employment and rehabilitation.

We also support councils with viability, business cases, delivery models, commercial advice and programme assurance, helping turn the Government’s housing ambitions into deliverable homes and places.

Regeneration

What’s new?

• A £125m Derelict Buildings Fund for 60 English councils, the High Streets Strategy and business rates relief.
• Full local retention of business rates by the decade’s end, £285m in Good Growth Funds for 2027/28 and a £1.5bn borrowing facility from April 2028, plus £150m in capacity support for Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

What does this mean for you?

More scope to shape local growth. However, turning new funding and powers into lasting improvements will depend on the capacity to develop viable investment programmes and deliver projects.

How can Local Partnerships help?

We work with councils to turn funding, fiscal freedoms and regeneration powers into robust investment programmes and deliverable projects. We support place-based regeneration, helping public sector partners shape realistic strategies for town centres, high streets and local growth, and providing capacity and capability to advance complex regeneration projects.

This includes testing viability, developing business cases and choosing delivery arrangements that balance ambition with affordability and risk.