Just when I thought that we had got over the Learning and Skills Council funding debacle, it appears that it is now the turn of the affordable housing sector to suffer the implications of having allocated or 鈥減romised鈥� government funding withdrawn

The latest news from the Treasury and the resulting Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) funding gap means that there is a significant risk that housing associations will be left with sites they cannot afford to develop, partially completed phased developments and massive bills for land, fees, planning, enabling works and community engagement. 

I appreciate that these are tough times and deficits have to be managed, but the government should at least give the sector the opportunity to plan for cuts rather than withdrawing the means to keep existing development and regeneration commitments moving. It is not only the HCA that is at risk, but a number of housing associations and the residents they support that may also be on the endangered list if their development plans are shelved.

Mark Newberry, partner, Robinson Low Francis