Briefings and responses

It is important that the funding made available during COVID-19 is not a one-off emergency response. A recent report by the Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping found that the elevated funding made available to local authorities amid the pandemic should be maintained if the Government wishes to achieve its pre-election commitment to end rough sleeping.

Local authorities have the ultimate responsibility to support, safeguard, care for and house vulnerable members of their community.

Councils are working hard to deliver the right kind of homes, and are currently approving nine out of ten planning permissions.

Whilst we recognise the Government’s aspiration to improve the current system, without addressing many of the detailed issues there is a significant risk that proposed changes could have a detrimental effect on the planning system. We have the opportunity to take the time needed to make improvements to the planning system. Conversely, if we get this wrong, the impacts will last for generations and some will be irreversible.

In order to tackle the national housing shortage, councils need to be empowered to build more affordable, good quality homes at scale, and fast, where these are locally needed.

The national housing shortage is one of the most pressing issues we face. The last time this country built more than 250,000 homes a year, councils built more than 40 per cent of them. Only an increase in all types of housing will ensure we can deliver 300,000 homes a year. A genuine renaissance in council housebuilding should play a major role in this.

Vital local services provided by councils face a funding gap of more than £5 billion next year. Councils urgently need some certainty about how local services will be funded

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.

Homelessness is a tragedy for all those it affects and is one of the most visible signs of the nation’s housing crisis. Local government wants to end homelessness by preventing it happening in the first place. We support the Government’s ambition to halve rough sleeping.

Social housing should be treated as an important national investment and seen as a desirable long-term option for a home.