LGA says government needs to use the Spending Review to support a more affordable housebuilding offer and give councils the funding and powers to resume their historic role as major housebuilders.
Cllr Martin Tett, Local Government Association housing spokesman, said: “Owning your own home is not an option for many families across the country. This timely report highlights how the housing crisis is pricing people out of home-owning, with first-time buyers saving for over a decade for a deposit.
“The Government has demonstrated its willingness to tackle the national housing shortage and its affordability crisis by lifting the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap. It now needs to use the Spending Review to support a more affordable housebuilding offer and give councils the funding and powers to resume their historic role as major housebuilders of good-quality, affordable homes. The last time the country built more than 250,000 homes in a year, in the 1970s, councils built around 40% of them.”
“Critical to this goal is allowing councils to retain 100% of their Right to Buy receipts and set discounts locally, and ensure that council planning departments have the power to set their own planning fees, which could save taxpayers up to £150m per year.”
The LGA’s #CouncilsCan campaign aims to influence the forthcoming Spending Review and highlight the growing risk to vital local services if the Government does not take action to secure the financial sustainability of councils — https://www.local.gov.uk/councils-can
Lead image above ©duncanandison/AdobeStock.
