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Call for housing policy change to let councils build 80,000 low cost homes for rent a year

Councillors in England are calling on the Government to invest more in low cost rented homes as a poll reveals it is one of their top priorities.

Some 71% of council leaders in Conservative run councils believe that under current levels of investment it is not possible to deliver enough homes even although the Prime Minister pledged an additional £2 billion of funding for affordable housing last year.

The survey of senior councillors across the country by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also found that 96% are hoping that the upcoming Social Housing Green Paper will address the supply of low cost rented homes as part of its comprehensive review of affordable housing in England.

Indeed, for local leaders this is their top priority ahead of issues such as how social housing is managed and allocated. In order to redesign the housing market so it works for everyone, JRF is calling on the Government to deliver at least 80,000 low cost rented homes each year in England.

Homelessness and poverty should have no place in our society. However, right now millions of people are locked out of being able to achieve a decent standard of living due to crippling rents,’ said Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

‘There is widespread consensus in every region, every political party and across the entire housing sector that we need significantly more investment in low -cost rented housing. Though, we are yet to see action from the Government on the scale required to tackle the housing crisis facing millions of people across England,’ he added.

Lord Gary Porter, leader of South Holland District Council and a Conservative Member of the House of Lords, pointed out that if the target of building 300,000 new homes a year by the middle of the 2020s is to be reached then councils are needed to contribute to this.

‘The last time the country built more than 250,000 homes a year councils built 40% of them. If local government is to play our role in meeting these ambitious targets we need to be given greater freedom to build new homes,’ he said.

‘House building by councils at scale would boost local economies and productivity, reduce housing benefit spending and homelessness, put Right to Buy on a sustainable footing, and create revenue generating assets for communities,’ he explained.

He also pointed out that when the Chancellor of the Exchequer lifted the housing borrowing cap for councils in areas of high affordability pressure in the last Budget it was a step in the right direction but he believes it should be lifted for all councils.

‘Doing so would spark a renaissance in house building, allowing us in local government to do our bit to help address the housing crisis,’ he added.

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