More than £1bn for social and affordable housing in England will be provided in the Budget, taking funding for the government's 10-year homes programme past £40bn. The announcement, made by Chancellor John Healey on Wednesday, also includes greater powers and funding for mayors and regional leaders across England. Councils will be helped to borrow money from the government to invest in housebuilding through preferential interest rates. The plans aim to give regional leaders more flexibility and authority over investment decisions. Healey said English cities and regions would get the "right to decide their own future", while Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the plans were about shifting power to those "who know their communities best".
Under the devolution plans, an initial £285m in transitional seed funding will be allocated by the government next year to support mayors and local leaders and reduce reliance on what the Treasury described as "fragmented bidding pots" in Whitehall. The government will also confirm it will work with mayors to design a new £1.5bn borrowing facility from 2028, which would allow them to access capital for local priorities such as new homes, high street regeneration or transport improvements. Areas which are not yet strategic authorities will be able to access a share of the £285m funding to unlock projects contributing to growth.
Claire Ward, chairwoman of the UK Mayors Network and Labour's East Midlands mayor, said that having the "right powers and resources through increased devolution" would help turn "ambitious plans into reality and deliver real, lasting change" for communities. Lord Sadiq Khan, Labour's mayor of London, said greater investment ability could "help unlock transformational infrastructure projects" including the West London Orbital route, extensions to the Bakerloo Underground line and Docklands Light Railway, and development of Stratford International station. The chancellor also announced support for small breweries, with the Treasury saying Healey wants "to turn the tide for our pint producers".
The Budget comes as defence spending remains a significant focus. Reports indicate Healey is expected to unveil billions of pounds in new defence spending, though specific details will be outlined at next year's spending review. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has called for Healey to resign if he fails to set out how the UK will spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting responded by saying the Conservatives were to blame for failing to invest in the military while in office, and that the prime minister had made clear the government was "determined to give our armed forces the investment needed to keep us safe".
The Budget preparations were also marked by the resignation of the Treasury's entrepreneurship adviser, Alex Depledge, who announced she was leaving on Thursday, the day after the Budget. Depledge told the Sunday Times that start-ups were being treated as a "sideshow" and should not be pushed to the "margins of economic policy". She said: "Keeping scale-ups on the fringes underestimates the contribution of our greatest companies, and we need to support and develop them on British shores at all costs."
For people across the UK, the greater borrowing ability for councils and the new £1.5bn facility from 2028 could help fund local projects that affect property, high streets and transport, while small business owners in the brewing sector may benefit from the targeted support announced in the Budget.