<p><span>The government has extended its current £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme by a year, giving housing associations and local authorities more time to begin work on schemes, it announced.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>Under the scheme, homes originally had to be started by March 2022. But housing associations and councils now have until March 2023 to put shovels into the ground, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said, “giving them the flexibility and certainty they need to keep building across the country”.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>MHCLG estimated that the pandemic had halted the construction of 53,000 new affordable homes. </span><span> </span><span></span></p> <p><span>“The government is stepping in to safeguard funding and make sure these much needed homes are not lost altogether,” it said.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>The announcement follows last week’s news of the new £12 million Affordable Homes Programme, beginning next year, to support up to 180,000 new affordable homes, including for ownership and rent over the next eight years. Within this programme will be a First Homes pilot – the previously trailed initiative for first time buyers with homes sold at a 30% discount which will remain in perpetuity.</span><span></span></p> <p><span> The announced extension applies to homes which are in contract to be delivered by the current …