There is ‘no way’ the Government can meet its housing target without giving local authorities the powers to build homes for rent, union says.

A new study by the public sector union GMB has revealed the number of new homes built in London in the last six years is only 41.8% of the number of new households formed in the same period.

There are 30 boroughs in the capital where the number of new homes ranges from 16.4% to 95.6% of the number of new households formed in the city during this period.

In England as a whole, GMB found, households have been increasing by an average of 218,316 per year since 2010 and over the same period the net additional dwellings have increased by 148,993 per year.

The increase in the number of dwellings is 68.2% of the increase in households.

GMB welcomed the Government’s recent housing white paper’s recognition that building more rented homes was ‘essential’.

However, the union warned that for Whitehall to achieve its aim of one million homes by 2020, it needed to give councils the powers to build rental homes.

‘It is essential that Government recognises that, like in 1907, local councils should be given powers to build homes for rent,’ said Warren Kenny, GMB London region secretary.

‘This power stood until Mrs Thatcher took it away in the 1980s. There is no way that the targets can be met unless councils do build housing for rent at affordable rents.’

Mr Kenny also urged Downing Street not to ‘back down’ on its requirement that developers start building on sites within two years of planning permission being granted.