The LGA’s Housing Commission provides a good overview of the current housing crisis and the role of councils in addressing the issues:

Local Government Association Housing Commission (2017) Building our homes, communities and futures (final report), London, LGA..

In addition, the LGA report on housing, planning and homelessness provides an overview:

Local Government Association (2018) Housing, planning and homelessness – moving the conversation on, London, LGA

There are many reports on affordable housing provision. There is useful coverage including definitions and types of affordable housing in:

Wilson, W. and Barton, C. (2018) What is affordable housing?, London, House of Commons Library Briefing Note CBP7747 -

Recent reports on affordable housing include:

Association for Public Service Excellence and the Town and Country Planning Association (2018) Delivering affordable homes in a changing world, London, APSE and TCPA 

Association for Public Service Excellence and the Town and Country Planning Association (2017) Building homes, creating communities, London, APSE and TCPA 

In relation to boosting housing supply, the House of Commons Library regularly updates reports on ‘tackling under-supply’ and ‘stimulating housing supply’:

Wilson, W. (2018) Stimulating housing supply – Government initiatives (England), London, House of Commons Library Briefing Paper No 06416

Wilson, W., Barton, C. and Smith, L. (2018) Tackling the under-supply of housing in England, London, House of Commons Library Briefing Paper No 07671 -  (section 3.1. provides a useful overview of the contribution made by councils and housing associations).

Council housing: HRA overview on borrowing headroom

A useful source is:

Association of Retained Council Housing and the National Federation of ALMOs (2017) ‘Raising the roof’ – an analysis of HRA borrowing headroom, Coventry, ARCH 

There are three major reports:

Association of Retained Council Housing (2013) Innovation and ambition: the impact of self-financing on council housing, Coventry, ARCH 

Chartered Institute of Finance and Accountancy and the Chartered Institute of Housing (2016) Investing in council housing: the impact on HRA business plans, London & Coventry, CIPFA & CIH.

Wilson, W. and Bate, A. (2015) Local housing authorities – the self-financing regime, London, House of Commons Library Briefing Note SN06776 

There are a number of studies listed below that cover this issue in varying degrees of detail. They normally include brief examples of individual local authority actions on council housebuilding. It is, however, important to appreciate that both Morphet and Clifford (2017) and the Town and Country Planning Association (2017) have a wider perspective covering, for instance, LHCs and enabling. 

Chartered Institute of Finance and Accountancy and the Chartered Institute of Housing (2016) Investing in council housing: the impact on HRA business plans, London & Coventry, CIPFA & CIH.

Morphet, J. and Clifford, B. (2017) Local authority direct provision of housing, London, University College London.

Town and Country Planning Association (2017) New models, partnerships and innovations: how can councils secure the delivery of more affordable homes? London, TCPA.  

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018) Additional housing revenue account borrowing programme, London, MHCLG  and the prospectus 

For London

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018) A ‘new deal’ for social housing, London, MHCLG

The most recent study on the role of councils as housing enablers was the Elphicke-House report:

Elphicke, N. and House, K. (2015) From statutory provider to housing delivery enabler: review into the local authority role in housing supply, London, Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) 

Although there are many books and papers on innovation, an especially useful source is:

Mulgan, G. (2014) Innovation in the public sector, London, NESTA. 

Labour Party (2018) Housing for the many: a Labour Party green paper, London, The Labour Party -  (sections 3.3. and 4.3. focus on new affordable rented housing).

A number of the reports on LHCs also cover council housebuilding. In addition, there is increasing the use of the term ‘direct delivery of housing by local authorities’ that encompasses both LHCs and council housebuilding – see, for instance, Morphet and Clifford (2017) below.

A useful recent review on the progress on local housing companies is a report by the Smith Institute:

Hackett, P. (2017) Delivering the renaissance in council-built homes: the rise of local housing companies, London, Smith Institute 

A report for the National Planning Forum and the Royal Town Planning Institute also covers this topic (as well as council housebuilding through HRAs). There are supplementary tables available online that cover the ‘type and scale of direct provision’

Morphet, J. and Clifford, B. (2017) Local authority direct provision of housing, London, University College London.

Details of this programme, launched in May 2018

The NFA publishes the results of an annual survey of ALMOs:

National Federation of ALMOs (2018) Firm foundations: 2017 annual survey – summary findings, Coventry, NFA 

Chartered Institute of Housing (2017) Working together to meet housing need, Coventry, CIH 

Chartered Institute of Housing (2017) Building bridges, Coventry, CIH 

A report that was commissioned by the LGA is:

Capital Economics (2018) Setting social rent, London, Capital Economics 

There is a useful House of Commons Library briefing paper:

Wilson, W. (2017) Rent setting: social housing (England), London, House of Commons Library Briefing Note 01090 

A comprehensive report by Savills for the LGA summarises the issues:

Local Government Association and Savills (2018) Sustainability of right to buy, London, LGA and Savills 

Association for Public Service Excellence and the Town and Country Planning Association (2017) Building homes, creating communities, London, APSE and TCPA (section 2.1)

Birmingham City Council (2016) Local Government Association Housing Commission – Birmingham City Council submission, Birmingham, Birmingham City Council.

Nazir, W. (2015) ‘Birmingham’s new homes development model’, Town & Country Planning, June/July, pp 273-275.

Skidmore, C. (2016) ‘House proud’, Municipal Journal, 3 March, pp 14-15.

Skidmore, C. (2013) ‘Housing as a driver for economic growth’, Journal of Urban Regeneration & Renewal Vol 7 No 1, pp 21-25.

Camden Council (2018) Camden CIP: Council homes, London, Camden Council.

Camden Council (2017) Camden Local Plan, London, Camden Council.

Camden Council (2017) ‘New Camden council homes are looking 'Ab fab!'’, London, Camden Council news story, November

East Riding of Yorkshire Council (2018) Housing revenue account budget 2018-19 and financial plan 2018-19 to 2021-22, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council (2017) Housing revenue account business plan update, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire Council.  

East Riding of Yorkshire Council (2014) HRA business plan 2014, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

East Midlands Councils (2016) East Midlands housing review: building our future, Melton Mowbray, EMC.

North Kesteven District Council (undated) The NK Plan 2018-21, Sleaford, NKDC.

Association of Retained Council Housing (2013) Innovation and ambition: the impact of self-financing on council housing, Coventry, ARCH, Appendix 6.

Northumberland County Council (2013) Northumberland housing strategy 2013-2018, Morpeth, Northumberland County Council.

Northumberland County Council (2017) Community housing fund policy 2017, Morpeth, Northumberland County Council.

Nuneaton Borough Council (2018) Development and acquisition strategy – housing revenue account, Nuneaton, NBC.

Nuneaton Borough Council (2018) Housing revenue account budget and capital programme – 2018/19, Nuneaton, NBC.  

Association for Public Service Excellence and the Town and Country Planning Association (2017) Building homes, creating communities, London, APSE and TCPA (section 2.4)

Association of Retained Council Housing (2013) Innovation and ambition: the impact of self-financing on council housing, Coventry, ARCH, Appendix 8.

Lindley, E. (2014) Developing in partnership: case studies, York, HQN, pp 6-7.

Lloyd, M. (2018) ‘Awaiting right to buy replacements’, Inside Housing, 6 July, pp 20-22.

Local Government Association (2018) Planning positively through partnerships, London, LGA, pp 18-19.

Barker, N. (2018) ‘Council proposes transferring housing services to repairs company’, Inside Housing, 17 January. 

DCLG (2016) ‘Tens of thousands of homes supported by Housing Zone funding’, London, DCLG press release, 5 January. 

Local Government Association (2018) Planning positively through partnerships, London, LGA, pp 26-27.

Stoke-on-Trent Council (2017) Building together for a stronger future: Stoke-on-Trent housing strategy, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent Council.

Stoke-on-Trent Council (2017) Build it in Stoke-on-Trent: development leaflet, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent Council.

Stoke-on-Trent Council (2017) Housing revenue account 30-year business plan, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent Council.

Stoke-on-Trent Council (2017) Housing infrastructure fund: council briefing note, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent Council.

Local Government Association (2017) LGA briefing: adjournment debate – Government policy on local authority housing, London, LGA.

Stroud District Council (2016) ‘Stroud District Council is extending and increasing its council house owned stock’, Stroud, Stroud District Council press release, 5 December.

Sutton Council (2017) HRA business plan 2017 to 2046, London, Sutton Council.

Sutton Council (2016) ‘Sutton Council’s new company, Encompass LATC, starts business’, London, Sutton Council news story, 19 July.   

Sutton Council (2015) Housing strategy 2015/16 and beyond, London, Sutton Council.