Five-year housing deal for councils could unlock 200,000 social homes, says LGA

Construction-sector activity would increase, too, boosting tax revenue, the LGA insisted.

Overall, the body claimed consecutive five-year housing deals could create more than £30bn of socio-economic benefits over three decades.

Claire Holland, housing spokesperson for the LGA, said: “Over the last 30 years, growth in the housing stock has stagnated and the number of housing completions is failing to keep up with demand.

“The only way to solve this country’s housing crisis is by giving councils the powers and resources to build more of the genuinely affordable homes our communities desperately need.

“Councils know their areas best and need the autonomy and funding certainty to be able to deliver long-term plans for housebuilding in their local areas.

“Five-year local housing deals are crucial to give local areas the powers to build more affordable, good-quality homes at scale, quickly, where they are needed.”

A recent LGA white paper called for a programme of building 100,000 high-quality, climate-friendly social homes every year.

It asked for strengthened Housing Revenue Accounts by way of a long-term rent settlement and restoration of revenue lost because of rent caps and cuts, to support long-term planning.

It called for government support to set up a housing advisory service that will bring experts together to help councils act as direct deliverers of housing, development partners and registered providers.

The white paper also demanded a cross-departmental strategy setting out national commitments to prevent homelessness.

A follow-up report published by the LGA this week looked deeper into the case for five-year housing funding deals.

This warned that 8% of renters were living in overcrowded accommodation, more than one million households were on local authority waiting lists, and in excess of 100,000 households were in temporary accommodation in England.

“Nearly 200,000 additional social homes are projected to be built over the span of 30 years with the introduction of a five-year funding regime,” the study concluded.

This could rise to half-a-million affordable residences under “an increased funding scenario”, it added.

The government has been contacted for comment.

The Centre for Ageing Better this week said the UK had missed out on a quarter of a million inclusive homes during a two-year policy vacuum.