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Sajid Javid has suggested the government will borrow to invest in infrastructure and housing in an interview with the BBC.
The communities secretary told The Andrew Marr Show yesterday that he wanted to see the government “sensibly borrow more to invest in the infrastructure that leads to more housing”.
He also said further announcements on new housing investments would be made in next month’s Autumn Budget.
In a break from the tone of previous Conservative and coalition ministers, Mr Javid said the government should “make a distinction” between bringing down the deficit and “investing for the future”.
He said: “We are looking at new investments and there will be announcements, I’m sure, in the Budget covering housing.
“But what I want to do is make sure that we are using everything we have available to deal with this housing crisis, and where that means we can, for example, sensibly borrow more to invest in the infrastructure that leads to more housing and take advantage of some of the record low interest rates we have, I think we should absolutely consider that.”
Challenged by host Andrew Marr over the deficit, Mr Javid said: “I make a distinction between the deficit that needs to come down and that’s vitally important for our economic credibility… but investing for the future, taking advantage of record low interest rates, can be the right thing if done sensibly – not just for housing but the infrastructure investment needed alongside housing.”
Mr Javid said between 275,000 and 300,000 homes a year were needed in England to tackle the housing crisis – a figure well above the government’s self-imposed target of 1.5 million homes over seven years.
It came as the Department for Communities and Local Government on Saturday launched a consultation to make the home-buying process “cheaper and less stressful” for those involved. The consultation will be open for eight weeks.