Rachel Reeves confirms plan to build 1.5 million new homes in Spring Statement presser

RACHEL Reeves has confirmed her plan to build 1.5 million new homes in her Spring Statement presser.

The Chancellor said house-building will hit a 40-year high by 2030 in a relief for Britain's broken property market.

The Office for Budget Responsibility yesterday predicted 1.3 million newhomeswill be completed by the end of the decade.

A push by ministers to slash planning permission red tape will see property sales increase from 290,000 per quarter in late 2024 to 370,000 by 2029.

The spike in transactions will add £6.8n to GDP.

But in bad news for aspiring homeowners, the watchdog revealed average prices will soar from £265,000 late this year to £295,000 by the end of the decade.

And mortgage rates are expected to rise from 3.7 per cent in 2024 to a peak of 4.7 per cent in 2028.

A fresh £2bn cash injection will also help Britain build up to 18,000 social and affordable homes.

Ms Reeves confirmed new funding to support residential developments set for competition by 2029.

Thousands of affordable homes will begin construction by March 2027, with ministers encouraging building firms to step forward with bids to ramp up housing supply.

Manchester and Liverpool will be among the areas targeted by Ms Reeves to increase the number of homes.

The Chancellor said while announcing the scheme this week: “We are fixing the housing crisis in this country with the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.

“Today’s announcement will help drive growth through our Plan for Change by delivering up to 18,000 new homes, as well as jobs and opportunities, getting more money into working people's pockets.”;

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner added: “Everyone deserves to have a safe and secure roof over their heads and a place to call their own, but the reality is that far too many people have been frozen out of homeownership or denied the chance to rent a home they can afford thanks to the housing crisis we’ve inherited.

“This investment will help us to build thousands more affordable homes to buy and rent and get working people and families into secure homes and onto the housing ladder.”;

Ms Reeves is swinging the axe at Whitehall spending in a desperate bid to balance the books at the Spring Statement.

With government borrowing higher than predicted and growth expected to plummet, she has told the country that her headroom of around £10 billion from last year has been wiped out.

The Chancellor hasn't announced changes to taxes in the Spring Statement, but is cutting tens of thousands of civil service jobs.

On Monday leading economist Paul Johnson warned that taxes are at the highest level they have ever been.

The Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed there had been a “historically extraordinary increase”; in levies, with no signs of slowing down for the remainder of the decade.

Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor have refused to rule out more brutal tax hikes in the next Autumn Budget.

Mr Johnson told the BBC: “I think the key fact is if you want serious money you have to do broadly speaking what the Chancellor did back in October – you have to raise one of the big taxes, and she decided to raise National Insurance.

“I think it is really important to be clear for those who are asking for increased taxes – this is the biggest period of raising taxes we have ever had, or at least we have had since the Second World War.

“They are rising by an extraordinary amount over this decade.”;