Healey pledges £1bn for social housing as housebuilding slump threatens Labour target

John Healey has pledged more than £1bn in additional funding for social and affordable housing as new figures reveal a sharp fall in housebuilding, raising fresh doubts over the government’s target of delivering 1.5m homes. The funding, due to be confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget, will take the government’s 10-year social and affordable housing programme beyond £40bn, alongside new borrowing powers for councils and regional mayors. But figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC), released on Monday, show registrations for new homes fell 13 per cent in the third quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier. Some 26,231 new homes were registered between July and September, down from 30,279 in the same period last year, as stretched affordability and rising construction costs continued to weigh on the market. Registrations in the affordable and rental sector fell even more sharply, dropping 23 per cent to 7,872, while private sector registrations declined eight per c