Sajid Javid demands £50bn in borrowing to tackle the housing crisis

Liz Bates

The Communities Secretary has called on the Chancellor to borrow an extra £50bn to build new homes, according to reports.



The Sun revealed that the Sajid Javid is demanding the cash in order to fund a major new housing programme.

This follows his declaration over the weekend that the Government should consider taking on more debt to tackle the housing crisis.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “What I want to do is makes sure we’re using everything I have available to deal with the housing crisis.

"Where that means, for example, we can sensibly borrow more to invest in the infrastructure that leads to more housing, take advantage of some of the record low interest rates that we have, I think we should absolutely be considering that...

“We have to continue to be bold in this area – we set out some measures during the conference but there is a lot more to do.

"This is one of the biggest barriers to social progress in this country.”

Sources have since revealed that the figure Mr Javid has asked for in the Budget next month is £50bn.

The Communities Secretary also acknowledged in yesterday’s interview that the UK requires between 275,000 and 300,000 new homes, of a range of tenures, to be built every year.

Mr Hammond will deliver his Budget next month, amid speculation that he will announce sweeping changes to the planning system and put pressure on housing developers to build.

Watch Sajid Javid tell Andrew Marr that the Government could borrow more to solve the housing crisis here:

Communities Secretary @sajidjavid says considering to "borrow more" to invest in housing is a "sensible" thing to do #marr pic.twitter.com/m27ORuCzSR — The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) October 22, 2017

Source: BBC