Gove’s department hands back £1.9bn meant to tackle England’s housing crisis

Gove has described Britain’s housing system as ‘broken’, but critics accuse him of exacerbating the crisis by dropping mandatory housebuilding targets. Photograph: Lucy North/PA

Michael Gove’s department is handing back £1.9bn to the Treasury originally meant to tackle England’s housing crisis after struggling to find projects to spend it on.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has surrendered hundreds of millions of pounds budgeted for 2022-23, including £255m meant to fund new affordable housing and £245m meant to improve building safety.