UK moves ahead with first £10 billion wave of low-rent housing plan

Britain's government announced details on Monday of almost £10 billion ($13.63 billion) in funding for the construction of lower-cost housing for ​renters with a focus on London, one of the ‌areas hit hardest by the country's shortage of homes.

More than £7 billion - the first tranche of a previously announced £39 billion in funding over 10 years - ​was earmarked for the capital where local authorities were ​expected to deliver over half the new homes, the ⁠government said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who moved into Downing Street ​in July, has promised to build more social rent homes, which ​offer tenants a discount of around 50% to market rates.

He says the move will reduce the long-term welfare bill and homelessness as well as ​provide security to people on lower incomes.

"Councils built this country ​out of a housing crisis once before.

Backed properly, and trusted to ‌get ⁠on with it, they will do it again," Burnham said in a statement.

Over time, more than £16 billion of the total 10-year funding plan will be allocated outside London, the government said.

It did ​not provide an ​estimate for ⁠the total number of homes likely to be built with the first wave of financing because ​London's allocation has yet to be split between ​councils in ⁠the capital.

Around 20,000 new homes in northern English cities were likely to be financed in the first wave.

The government said the ⁠house-building ​programme would advance another policy priority ​of Burnham - devolution - by giving mayoral authorities the power to set strategic direction in ​their areas.

-Reuters