Chancellor John Healey is set to unveil a Budget including over £1 billion for social and affordable housing in England, boosting the government's 10-year homes programme funding beyond £40 billion. The Budget will also grant mayors and regional leaders increased powers and funding, including preferential borrowing rates to support housebuilding and local investment projects. An initial £285 million in transitional seed funding will be allocated next year to reduce reliance on fragmented Whitehall bids, with plans for a £1.5 billion borrowing facility from 2028 to aid local priorities such as housing, transport, and high street regeneration.
Healey emphasised empowering local leaders to make decisions tailored to their communities, a move supported by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and regional mayors who see it as a step towards greater devolution. Additionally, Healey will announce more support for small breweries. Defence spending remains a contentious issue, with Healey expected to outline new funding plans at next year's spending review amid calls from the opposition for a commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
Read the full story: BBC UK News.
Source: BBC UK News. Aggregated summary, not independent reporting.