You don’t need Advantage to tell you that the news headlines have been a tad Brexit heavy in recent times (and that trend certainly shows no signs of changing any time soon!) However, for those listening to the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement last week, there were plenty of key take-aways for those looking beyond the Brexit headlines and focusing on what the coming months and years hold for those in construction and related fields.

Firstly, he talked about “a new £3 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee scheme, to support delivery of around 30,000 affordable homes” and “the launch next month of the £1 billion Enable Build SME guarantee fund that I announced at Budget.”

Adding: “And £717 million from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock up to 37,000 new homes on sites in West London, Cheshire, Didcot, and Cambridge…the latter two being at opposite ends of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.”

And that: “I can announce today up to £260 million for the innovative Borderlands Growth deal covering the border regions of England and Scotland, on top of the £100 million HIF funding already announced for Carlisle… Negotiations are progressing on future deals for mid-Wales and Derry/Londonderry…and I reiterate today this government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse Rail project and look forward to considering TfN’s business case ahead of the Spending Review.”

The Chancellor also declared that: “The government is determined to fix the broken housing market.”

This latest statement reiterates the government’s commitment to house building (which we’ve written about in a previous blog). Advantage’s conclusion: The Chancellor is certainly continuing to say all the right things about housing. However, he also sounded a note of caution regarding his spending promises for the months ahead, which are based on the UK leaving the EU with a deal.

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