Briefings and responses

"We welcome the powers granted by the Government for councils to impose civil penalties of up to £30,000 for the worst housing offences."

Councils are proud of their housing and the families that call it home, they are committed to improving standards, to empowering and supporting tenants, and to expanding the stock of social housing for those in need of a secure, quality, affordable home.

We believe it is important to retain an element of local flexibility within a stable long-term national framework of rent increases.

We support the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill. Councils want their residents to live in homes that are decent, safe and secure, and councils’ housing teams work hard to ensure homes are fit for purpose.

The housing shortage is one of the most pressing issues we face. Councils have a key role in delivering more affordable housing and helping to build 300,000 homes a year. The last time this country built more than 250,000 homes a year, councils delivered more than 40 per cent of them

The LGA does not support the proposal to include major shale gas production projects in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime. This will bypass the locally democratic planning system.

The LGA does not support the proposal for a permitted development right for shale gas exploration. This will bypass the locally democratic planning system.

It is fantastic that the Government has accepted our long-standing call to scrap the housing borrowing cap. This demonstrates the Government’s willingness to make councils central to solving the national housing crisis. We would welcome clarity on when this will be implemented, and urge that this should be as soon as possible.

Right now councils are housing 77,000 families and 125,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation, with a further million on waiting lists. The last time the country built enough homes councils built 40 per cent of them. We urgently need a renaissance in council house building. 

We welcome the Tenant Fees Bill and we are pleased that the Bill received cross-party support in the House of Commons. The Government’s intention to make private rented accommodation more accessible is positive. Excessive letting agent fees are a concern for many tenants and councils.