16 July 2004
Housing organisations welcomed what was seen as a favourable settlement for the sector.
Merron Simpson, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: 'The housing budget has risen in three Spending Reviews in a row and this is the most significant.'
The National Housing Federation gave a cautious welcome to the review and promised to find efficiency savings. 'We must ensure that we provide the highest-quality homes,' said NHF chief executive Jim Coulter.
An extra 10,000 social rented homes will be built each year until 2008 as the Sustainable Communities plan is reinforced by £16bn.
The housing budget is being increased by 4.1% in real terms, with overall spending by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister rising by 3.3% to £8.4bn per year by 2007/08.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott claimed the additional social housing represented an increase of 50%, although the number of new homes funded through the Housing Corporation has already risen by 10,000 per year to 33,500.
PFjul2004
