70,000 social and affordable homes to be built across England as part of 39bn plan

Ministers have announced where 70,000 social and affordable homes will be built in England over the next 10 years, in a bid to address the housing crisis. Funding has been granted to Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North East England, and Liverpool, as well as £6bn for London. It is the first part of a wider plan to build 300,000 social and affordable homes across the nation, under the government's £39bn social housebuilding programme. Housing charities welcomed the news but said it was still not enough to meet demand, while the Conservatives said it was an unfunded spending commitment. Of the new homes announced on Monday, 60% would be for social rent - which means the cost of the unit is about half that of market rents and there are strict criteria for who can apply for it.