Angela Rayner Source:&nbsp Shutterstock The deputy prime minister has announced a 350 million top-up to its affordable housing fund, adding to the 500 million pot already pledged in Octobers budget Most of the new funding 300 million will be used to boost the governments affordable homes programme.Ministers say this extra cash will fund 2,800 additional homes, including more than half for social rent, Sky News reports.Meanwhile, 50 million has been pledged to the local authority housing fund to pay for an expected 250 extra council homes.AdvertisementThe new funding announcement comes as Angela Rayner said she was determined to meet Labours manifesto commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.The deputy prime minister and housing secretary said Labour must come good on its pledge to 'turn [the] tide' on the UK's housing shortfall, with more than 120,000 households in temporary accommodation and 1.3 million people on housing waiting lists. She added: We will meet that target because we can't afford not to.However, the extra funding has been met with cynicism from some parts of the industry.Housing association L&Q's chief executive Fiona Fletcher Smith told the Radio 4s Today programme this morning: I'm not going to say no to extra money. But her 300 million announcement, although fantastic, really doesnt touch the sides. To build the affordable housing we need in London, which is about 120,000 homes over five years, we need 54 billion.Housing charity Shelters chief executive, Polly Neate, described the funding boost as a promising start but insisted: The government must commit far more ambitious investment at the spending review in June.AdvertisementOnly truly bold action will tackle the housing emergency and end homelessness for good. Investing in building 90,000 social rent homes a year for 10 years would clear social housing waiting lists, boost jobs and help grow the economy.'And Local Government Association housing spokesperson Adam Hug agreed with Neate that the government must seize the opportunity of the upcoming spending review to ensure local government is equipped with the necessary resources to help deliver the homes communities need.Asked whether an extra 250 council houses was a big enough increase to meet demand, Rayner said: We think the measures were taking will unlock thousands more council and social homes as part of that programme.However, writing in the Mirror today (12 February), the deputy prime minister admitted that ending the UKs housing crisis will not be easy, explaining: We havent built enough homes for decades to meet demand and it will take time to turn this around.Last year, Rayner said she was determined to bring forward the biggest wave of council housing in a generation as part of Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million homes in its first five years in power a social housing drive unseen since the post-war years.In November, she announced major restrictions on the right to buy for new council homes, to prevent new homes from leaving the system once they are built.It was also announced that local authorities would get to keep all of the money they make from council house sales, rather than having to give a portion of the income to the Treasury.Local authorities or organisations given funding for housebuilding will be required to return the money if they do not fulfil their contracts, the AJ understands.2025-02-12Anna Highfieldcomment and share