Briefings and responses

Councils once again have a key role in delivering more affordable housing and helping to build 300,000 new homes a year.

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.  

Nationally prescribed permitted development rights disempower communities and local councils. The approach inhibits local government’s ability to make decisions on behalf of their communities based on their local knowledge and evidence.

Councils are committed to ensuring new homes are built and communities have quality places to live. It is vital that these are delivered through a locally-led planning system with public participation at its heart which gives communities the power to ensure new developments are of a high standard, built in the right places, and include affordable homes.

Homelessness is a tragedy for all those it affects and is one of the most visible signs of the nation’s housing crisis.

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

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.

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.

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 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.