LGA responds to latest house building statistics

“The last time the country built more than 300,000 homes a year was 1977/78, when councils built 44 per cent of them."

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Responding to the latest house building statistics, showing an 8 per cent decrease in new dwelling starts during April to June when compared with the same period last year, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, Cllr David Renard, said:

“Councils want to do more to help build the homes our communities desperately need.

“The last time the country built more than 300,000 homes a year was 1977/78, when councils built 44 per cent of them. Latest figures show councils built just over 2,300 homes last year – the highest level since 1992 – but need the upcoming Queen’s Speech to hand them powers and funding if they are to play a leading role in solving our housing shortage. 

“This must include devolving Right to Buy so that councils retain 100 per cent of their receipts to reinvest in building new homes accompanied with the right infrastructure, and can set discounts locally.”


Notes

As part of our #CouncilsCan campaign, we have set out radical plans for how the Queen’s Speech on 14 October can be used by the Prime Minister to reignite the devolution process to ensure all parts of England reap the benefits of having greater powers and funding to improve services such as housing, transport, and health and social care.

As part of the LGA’s sector-led improvement programme, we provide a Housing Advisers Programme which is designed to support councils seeking to innovate in meeting the housing needs of their communities.