CIH responds to the 2026 Autumn Budget

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, has delivered his Autumn Budget to the House of Commons.  

In his speech, the Chancellor announced additional funding for the development of more social and affordable homes, plans to tackle rough sleeping, and a new scheme to help first time buyers.   

Responding to the announcements, Gavin Smart, Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive, said: 

“Today’s Budget contains welcome news, with an additional £1.5 billion in funding for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme. This takes the total amount of funding available through the programme over £40 billion over ten years – a significant and vital investment in social and affordable housing that will help reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation, and support communities across the country. The housing sector stands ready to use this funding to deliver more social and affordable homes where they are most needed. The introduction of a 0% VAT rate on land sold to registered social housing providers for social housing from next April will help reduce development costs and support the delivery of more affordable homes. 

“We also welcome the additional support announced to tackle rough sleeping, with an extra £432 million over the next two years. However, while the Chancellor recognised that reducing homelessness requires a whole system approach, failing to increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, which have been frozen since 2024, risks leaving more renters facing financial difficulty. Without action on LHA, any positive action on reducing homelessness could be undermined.  

“The absence of any targeted revenue support for supported housing in the Budget is a missed opportunity. Supported housing provides vital support to some of the most vulnerable people, but is under pressure, with potential knock-on costs falling on the NHS and social care. 

“The government has acknowledged the need to support first-time buyers through a new, targeted Your First Home scheme, which will be welcomed by many across the housing sector. The Chancellor also reiterated the government’s commitment to deliver the biggest boost to council housebuilding since the post-war period. To achieve this, government will need to review the debt currently held by local authority Housing Revenue Accounts (HRAs), which in many areas is stifling the ability of councils to invest in building new homes. We hope this will be covered in the forthcoming 10 Year Plan, which the government has said will detail reforms to ensure that councils have the capacity to start building at scale again, significantly reduce the complexity and cost of the development process, and release public land for affordable housing. 

"While we welcome the short-term relief announced through the £100 household energy payment and the £100 million of funding for local authorities, we would have liked the government to go further by immediately removing all levies from electricity bills and maintaining the full Warm Homes Plan budget. Making electricity cheaper and reducing the disparity between gas and electricity prices is fundamental to accelerating the rollout of clean heating in homes. While we await further details on how and when the various measures and cuts announced in the Budget will take place, we urge the government to maintain its commitment to investing in safe, healthy homes over the remainder of this Parliament. 

“In summary, there is much to welcome in this Budget, and the housing sector is ready to deliver with the funding available. The government’s commitment to end rough sleeping is being followed through with additional funding and support, but more work is required to reduce the use of temporary accommodation and support housing for those with additional needs.” 

Look out for our member-exclusive ‘What You Need To Know’ guide on the Autumn Budget, coming soon.