Additional investment boost for Welsh housing
In early January, the Welsh Government was able to allocate additional capital investment for this financial year with the aim of boosting growth and jobs.
Of the further allocations of £91.5million, a third of this sum (£30million) was made available to fund a package of housing investment including funding for affordable housing and other housing priorities including an alternative approach to delivering housing adaptations and land for housing schemes.
Making the announcement, Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance highlighted that since the Welsh infrastructure investment plan was published in May last year, Welsh Government have generated an additional investment package of around £1.1billion to fund infrastructure priorities. She said: ‘This is a significant amount of money and shows our determination to stimulate economic growth, create jobs and reduce poverty in Wales.’
What better way to stimulate economic growth and create jobs than to invest in housing? We are the only sector in Wales to lever in £1.5billion of private investment and this additional capital will not only help build more affordable homes, it will also help boost the Welsh economy and provide much needed job and training opportunities for local people.
The fact that the housing sector has received a third of the available finance from this capital allocation demonstrates the political priority attached to housing and the growing realisation of its role in generating jobs and growth.
This further allocation takes additional capital investment to £46million this financial year and means that the sector has benefited from additional capital funding of £292million over the past five years despite pressures to cut capital budgets across government by 50% in real terms. Additional investment in the sector has included:
- £62million Strategic Capital Investment Funding
- £81million Arbed 1 and 2 programmes, and
- £149million in consequential/supplementary budgets
This funding reflects the positioning of the sector as a vehicle for social justice and economic growth. We have also demonstrated that increased innovation leads to more investment, not less. However, as the economy continues to struggle, we cannot afford to be complacent. Ministers have an additional capital sum of £224million to be dispersed over the next two financial years and housing will continue to require the support necessary to boost the economy and also deliver the 7,500 new homes target.
Nick Bennett, Community Housing Cymru