On behalf of its membership, the cross-party LGA regularly submits to Government
consultations, briefs parliamentarians and responds to a wide range of parliamentary inquiries. Our recent
responses to government consultations and parliamentary briefings can be found here.
A local, plan-led system continues to be vital in ensuring that councils and the communities they represent have a say over the way places develop. This includes the delivery of homes, where locally required, and the supporting infrastructure needed to create sustainable, resilient places. This will be even more critical as we move towards recovery after COVID-19.
Councils have welcomed the £3.2 million worth of additional funding to support rough sleepers, as well as the £3.2 billion to help councils through this period. However, they need a commitment that the extraordinary costs incurred by all services to date – as well as the costs from delivering “business as usual” services with reduced income flows – will be met. Without this, the sustainability of council services, including homeless services, will be jeopardised in the short and medium-term.
Councils want to play a lead role in developing a locally responsive mix of tenures, which includes homes for sale, as well as social homes and other affordable homes for those who are not ready or do not want to buy.
We are calling on the Government to use the Budget to give councils the tools and powers they need to resume their historic role as major housebuilders of good, quality affordable homes for social rent, and to invest in homelessness prevention.
The LGA supports local authorities in their ambition to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions across housing and all their business in the shift towards achieving net zero carbon.
In the previous two years of the Housing Advisers Programme, we have funded over 100 councils to help councils build homes, reduce homelessness, plan for population ageing, understand the student housing market and increase supply of modular housing.
Instead of pushing for more permitted development, Government must continue to work with local government and the mobile industry to share best practice and guidance to help the streamlined deployment of mobile infrastructure within the current planning regime to allow communities to engage in the development of their local areas.
The LGA’s view is that the best way to increase housing security is to address the unaffordability of housing, which is a key reason why many people lose their tenancy and become homeless.
The Local Government Association is supportive of proposals to widen access to the national rogue landlord database to tenants and prospective tenants. We are also supportive of expanding the scope of offences leading to entries on the database.