Councils respond to PM's housebuilding announcement

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference on council housebuilding, Lord Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said: 

“It is good that the Government has accepted our argument that councils must be part of the solution to our chronic housing shortage and able to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes. We hope that today’s speech by the Prime Minister signals an important shift in the Government’s housing vision and are pleased that there will be additional funding for affordable homes.

“Councils are working with communities to approve nine in 10 planning applications but it is clear that only an increase of all types of housing – including those for affordable or social rent – will solve the housing crisis. A genuine renaissance in council housebuilding would increase housing supply, boost home ownership and reduce homelessness.

“The last time the country was building more than 250,000 houses was in 1978 - when councils built 44 per cent of new homes. Councils want to get on with the job of building the new homes that people in their areas desperately need. 

“Every housing market is different and the only way councils will be able to significantly deliver the new homes we need is if they are given genuine powers to invest in housing that meets the needs of communities in every town and city across the country.

“This means the ability to borrow to invest in new council housing, to keep 100 per cent of Right to Buy receipts to replace sold homes, certainty over future rents, powers to make sure developers build approved homes in a timely fashion, and adequately funded planning departments so that they can cover the cost of processing applications.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. 1.    The LGA’s Autumn Budget submission includes calls for the Government to provide a sustainable long-term sustainable financial framework for councils to build homes, including lifting the Housing Borrowing Cap.

1. 2.    In 1977, there were 5 million council homes, now there are 1.6 million. Just one in 10 of all households live in council housing, compared with a third in 1977. This compares with a doubling of households in more expensive privately rented homes, from 2.2 million in 1977 to 4.5 million now.

1. 3.    The number of affordable homes built in 2015/16 fell by 52 per cent and was the lowest number in 24 years. Just 6,554 social rented homes were built in the same year.

1. 4.    Councils are housing an extra secondary school’s worth of homeless children every month, and are housing over 120,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation

1. 5.    Council housing costs taxpayers less in housing benefit, on average private sector tenants receive £113 per week in housing benefit in England compared with £98 per week for those renting from a social rent landlord.