Hammond slaps down Sajid Javid over £50bn for housebuilding

Philip Hammond has rejected Sajid Javid's suggestion the government could borrow billions of pounds to to fund new housing. Vince Cable at Treasury questions yesterday said he was glad the government has agreed to borrow an additional £50bn for housebuilding. However, the Chancellor replied that this is not government policy Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented: “There was a brief shaft of light when it seemed the Treasury had finally agreed to finance public sector house building through borrowing. “Sadly Sajid Javid has been slapped down by the Chancellor, who denies all knowledge of the commitments that the Secretary of State made over the weekend. “This is bad news for families struggling with soaring rents and younger people increasingly shut out of the housing market. “We’re left with the absurd situation where councils can borrow from the Treasury to engage in property speculation on the other side of the country, but can’t borrow to build more housing for their own residents.”