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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

England’s affordable housing scheme falls 32,000 homes short of target

Houses under construction.
Builders started work on 180,000 homes in England in the past year, according to official data. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

A £21bn government programme to build more affordable housing in England is missing its target by 32,000 homes with big shortfalls in rural areas, MPs have said.

The affordable homes programme also risks falling further behind because Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities “does not seem to have a grasp” of risks ahead including soaring construction inflation, according to the public accounts committee. A new below-inflation cap on social rent increases could also limit new building, it says.

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