Lords Economic Affairs committee welcomes PM's Housing announcement

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday to the Conservative Party Conference, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Chairman of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, said:

"I welcome the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday that the cap on how much councils can borrow against their Housing Revenue Account assets to fund new housing is being scrapped by the Government. 

“The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee concluded in 2016 that local authorities must be enabled to make a much greater contribution to the overall supply of new housing. We recommended that one way to do this was for local authorities to be able to borrow to build social housing, in the same way that they can borrow for other purposes. 

“The removal of the cap is a significant step in enabling them to address the lack of housing supply in the UK."

Background

• The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee published its Building more homes report in 2016.