Briefings and responses

Councils are committed to working with Government and developers to meet the Government’s aspirations of 300,000 new homes per year, with land for more than 2.6 million homes allocated in Local Plans.

To meet the Government’s aspirations for the build out of new homes to help deliver 300,000 new homes per year, the Government needs to provide councils with the tools to encourage and oblige developers to build out sites with permission in a swift and timely manner.

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

Local government is ready to work with the Government to achieve these objectives. However, the current proposals lack the detail that is needed for full debate and comment. This lack of detail means that there are wide-ranging concerns about how the proposals will work in practice.

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 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’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.

Proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system - July 2019. The fire at Grenfell Tower exposed systemic failures in the building regulation system. It is right that we seek to correct these failures, to prevent a fire like the one at Grenfell tower from ever occurring again.