Town hall bosses have called for a ‘renaissance in house building by councils’ as it warns almost 4 million people will need affordable housing by 2024.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the Government to introduce a series of new measures to get councils building again, including allowing them to keep 100% of receipts from any homes sold through the Right to Buy scheme.
It also wants local authorities to be free to borrow to invest in housing in the same way they are able to borrow for other projects, and for councils to combine money earned from Right to Buy with other sources of funding.
The LGA has also published new analysis from the Learning and Work Institute, which predicts almost 4m will need access to affordable housing by 2024.
‘As our analysis shows, millions of people studying hard and succeeding in work will also no longer be able to find an affordable and decent place to live,’ said LGA housing spokesman, Cllr Peter Box.
‘Bold new action is needed to solve our housing crisis following the vote to leave the European Union. A renaissance in house building by councils must be at the heart of this.’
‘The private sector clearly has an important role to play but the reality is that it cannot build the homes we need on its own, and will likely be further restricted by uncertainties in the months and years ahead,’ added Cllr Box.
A DCLG spokesperson said: 'More council housing has been built since 2010 than the previous 13 years – but as part of making Britain a country that works for everyone we need more housebuilding.
'Local authorities have £2.5bn in housing reserves and borrowing headroom of £3.4bn, so they should be able to build the homes their communities need.'
'Furthermore, we’ve set out the most ambitious vision for housing in a generation, including investing £8bn to build 400,000 more affordable homes,' they added.
