Member

To avoid the need for mitigations, we have also taken decisive action to enable mayors to act on these incentives. Delivering on a commitment from the English Devolution White Paper, established mayoral authorities now possess the ability to set the strategic direction of our £39 billion social and affordable homes programme in their communities. Mayors have set out their social and affordable housing ambitions and will work with Homes England and social housing providers on development priorities, identifying key sites and supporting investment opportunities to shape delivery. Crucially, this represents an interim step as, over time, we will seek to move towards full devolution of funds and delivery for social and affordable housing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act provides mayors with broad and flexible powers regarding housing and strategic planning, including the ability to acquire land and housing, produce spatial development strategies and set up mayoral development corporations. It further strengthens the accountability mechanisms for mayors through the introduction of local scrutiny committees, and we are currently revising the English devolution accountability framework with an updated version to be published by the end of 2026.