Briefings and responses

Councils have a responsibility to support, safeguard, care for and house vulnerable members of their community. The provision of supported housing is vital to ensuring vulnerable people live in suitable homes that meet their personal and all-round housing, health and care needs.

The nation is facing a housing crisis. Dealing with the crisis is vital if we are to ensure that all residents are able to benefit from economic growth.

The provision of supported housing is vital to ensuring vulnerable people live in suitable homes that meet their personal and all-round housing, health and care needs.

Local government supports the collective national ambition to build one million new homes by 2020, but house building is currently well below the levels required for an efficient and fully functioning housing market.

Councils are supportive of Build to Rent and recognise the important role that it can play in delivering much needed high quality market rented housing.

The Housing White Paper presents an important shift in the government’s housing strategy on a number of fronts.

Local government's ambition is much greater than the White Paper, which lacks substantive measures to support councils in enabling housing growth, and to build the genuinely affordable homes for those at the sharp end of the housing crisis.

A summary of the key developments for local government on Neighbourhood Planning and Local development documents.

Neighbourhood Planning Bill, House of Lords, Second Reading, 17 January 2017 Key messages

Faced with increasing demand, reducing budgets, falling social housing and wide-ranging welfare reforms, it is clear that that there is no silver bullet and councils cannot tackle this challenge alone.