LGA responds to report on meeting housing demand

10 Jan 2022 01:57 PM

Cllr David Renard, Local Government Association housing spokesperson, responded to the Lords’ Built Environment Committee report, Meeting the UK’s housing demand 

“We fully support the Committee’s call for more investment in increasing social housing stock, if we are to tackle the housing crisis.

“By giving councils the powers and resources to build 100,000 much-needed social homes a year, we can help the Government meet its annual target of 300,000 new homes. This should include further reform of Right to Buy.

“While planning is not the barrier to housebuilding, with nine in 10 planning applications approved by councils, the Committee is right to highlight the need for planning authorities to be adequately resourced.

“Developers also need to be incentivised to build housing more quickly, with over 1 million homes given planning permission in the past decade not yet built, while an additional 1 million homes allocated in local plans are waiting to be brought forward by developers for planning permission.”

Built Environment Committee Meeting housing demand