Prior to Wednesdays (30 October) Autumn Budget, the first set out by a Labour government in 14 years, it was clear that housing is an area earmarked for attention. The role of housebuilding in creating economic growth is a cornerstone of this governments economic approach and it has become a near-permanent fixture of the news in recent weeks.Next springs Spending Review is set to outline longer-term spending plans for the next five years, and this budget can be seen as a precursor to where we can expect to see more substantive funding with some promising initial steps.For starters, the announcement of an extra 500 million for the Affordable Homes Programme is a welcome inclusion. Its arguable that the case in favour of large-scale housebuilding has been won, but its vital that social housing provision makes up a significant proportion of this to meet identified need.AdvertisementHowever, with only 5,000 social and affordable homes projected to be delivered through this injection of cash, theres a lot more to be done. Its high time to look to ambitious measures, focusing on identifying and enacting creative solutions and utilising expertise from across the built environment sector.Our recent report,Foundations for the Future: a new delivery model for social housing, proposes a new way to meet some identified need. Based on a one-off initial investment from central government to local authorities, the model sees this money used by local authorities to build homes on publicly-owned land, for both social rent and market sale.Receipts from market sale homes are then retained and reinvested, creating funding for the next tranche of development of market sale and social rent homes. Not only does this promote mixed-use development, it also reduces reliance on continuous central government funding to secure social housing provision especially with land cost eliminated or vastly reduced.The governments commitment that details of future grant investment beyond the current Affordable Homes Programme will be laid out in the Spending Review is positive, but it must be more ambitious in its scope.Elsewhere, chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the governments commitment to implement a long-held RIBA recommendation allowing local authorities to retain 100 per cent of the receipts generated by the sale of housing stock under Right to Buy. This welcome measure, which means receipts will be used to reinvest in social housing, will give local authorities greater ability to respond to local housing need.AdvertisementThe role of infrastructure in laying the foundations for growth cant be underestimatedWhile investment in housebuilding is deeply necessary, infrastructure spend is also a key part of the puzzle. The role of infrastructure in laying the foundations for growth cant be underestimated transport links, employment opportunities and investment into local industries are vital to create thriving places and communities.To meet the governments target of 1.5 million new homes across this Parliament, it will need to enable housebuilding in both established and entirely new settlements. However, if we want to create successful, integrated and healthy places that people want to live in, we cant build homes in isolation and expect good results.Instead, housing delivery must be accompanied by the delivery of public transport and high-quality public spaces. Retail offers, education settings, healthcare facilities, and community spaces are also vital to promote a vibrant civic life. There should also be a clear plan to manage and maintain these something that is usually forgotten about. In particular, given the governments focus on establishing a generation of new towns to meet housing need, its commitment to a 10-year infrastructure strategy must include the investment needed for this vision to come to life.Creating homes without scrimping on quality will be a challengeThe government describes this budget as the beginning of a decade of national renewal. For the rhetoric to become reality, we need to see a commitment to ambition in terms of both economics and imagination. Creating the homes and places that are so sorely needed across the country without scrimping on quality will be a challenge, but one the government has shown intent to meet head-on.Were already working with government to showcase the importance of quality and the integral role that architects can play in designing places fit to meet the needs of our communities both now and in decades to come.Were looking forward to continuing this in the coming months, and situating architects at the forefront of delivering the governments housing ambitions.Muyiwa Oki is RIBA President and an architect at construction company Mace2024-11-01Richard Waitecomment and share