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“These findings reinforce why it is essential that accessible and adaptable housing for older and disabled people is a key part of our national ambition to build new homes, and we support calls to raise the minimum accessibility standards for new housing."

“Now is the time to reverse the decline in council housing over the past few decades. As important as these reforms are for tenants, they will not help to tackle the severe shortage of social housing the country faces."

“As we enter this second national lockdown, councils will continue to do everything they can to accommodate new rough sleepers during the winter as well as support those already off the streets into safe, long-term accommodation with the appropriate support."

“Councils are committed to building homes with the right infrastructure that local communities need and are supportive of custom and self-build housing as one way of achieving that.

"This is an important first step to addressing councils’ concerns about the quality, costs and oversight of some supported housing accommodation. We also look forward to seeing the detail of the pilot work."

Communities could have missed out on nearly 30,000 affordable homes in the past five years if proposed government planning reforms were in place, new analysis by the LGA reveals today.

“These figures highlight the increased demand pressures on councils as they strive to provide homelessness support and underlines the urgent need for these services to be adequately funded.

Cllr David Renard, LGA housing spokesperson, responds to the announcement from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick that new homes delivered under permitted development rights will have to meet space standards.

“The slowdown in house-building caused by COVID-19 reinforces the urgent need for the Government to make housing a central part of the national recovery."

"It is vital that the Spending Review shifts the Government’s focus towards the key drivers of homelessness, including a lack of affordable housing, welfare-related poverty, and a lack of an integrated prevention approach."