WIREDGOV

Local Government Association Chairman Lord Porter, commented  after attending the Number 10 Housing Summit on Tuesday

“The fact that local government had a seat at the table at the Prime Minister’s housing summit is another positive sign that the Government rightly sees councils as part of the solution to our housing shortage. It was encouraging that everyone around the table agreed with us about the important role councils must play and pleasing that the Prime Minister is taking personal ownership of this challenge.

“The last time we were building the number of homes that the country needs, in the 1970s, councils were building 40 per cent of them.

“Councils want to get on with the job of building the new homes that people in their areas desperately need again and are already playing their part by approving nine out of 10 planning applications.

“We now hope to see positive action taken by the Government in the Autumn Budget to spark the genuine renaissance in council housebuilding we desperately need.

“This includes the lifting of the housing borrowing cap to allow councils to invest in building new affordable homes, enabling councils to keep 100 per cent of receipts from any homes they sell and ensuring planning departments can be adequately funded so that they can cover the cost of processing applications.”