Government spending cuts could halve the number of affordable homes built during the coming decade, according to the National Housing Federation.
The NHF, which represents 1,200 registered social landlords, said figures in the Pre-Budget Report suggested the housing budget could be slashed by 17.98%.
The organisation warned that if this happened, around 556,000 planned affordable homes would not be built – well short of the government pledge to build one million new affordable homes by 2020.
The cuts would also mean 278,000 jobs and apprenticeships in the construction industry and wider economy would also be lost or not created.
The NHF warned that if this reduced rate of building was continued into the long-term, it would take the Government until 2038 to build one million new affordable homes - 18 years longer than expected.
The organisation said analysis carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the Pre-Budget Report suggested that all departments not protected would have their budgets cut by an average of 17.98% in real terms.
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