In a speech made at the Conservative Party conference today, UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged an extra £2 billion to be spent on affordable housing. This is in addition to the government's existing £7 billion affordable housing fund, which awards grants to local governments, housing associations, and private housebuilding to subsidize affordable housing. While a step in the right direction, many argue that the promise is still wholly insufficient in meeting the country's need. 

The Royal Institute of British Architects was one such organization that responded to the Prime Minister's speech by strongly criticizing the proposal. RIBA President, Ben Derbyshire pointed out that "earlier this week the RIBA awarded Neave Brown the Royal Gold Medal, architecture’s highest accolade, for his outstanding work in building high quality affordable housing, cherished by local communities. Social housing like this plays a vital role in ensuring that we have a society that works for everyone. While it’s good news that the Prime Minister has made fixing the housing crisis a central priority for the government, the extra £2 billion promised today just won’t meet the scale of investment needed to address decades of under-supply."

“The government spends billions of pounds a year subsidizing private landlords because of a shortage of social housing. They need to dial up the approach and investment, moving beyond describing the problems and big rhetoric to delivering solutions and the investment that will make the difference. Warm words won’t put roofs over people’s heads; we need a concerted program of public investment in new social housing across the country and that means spending a lot more than was announced today" he added.