Local Government Association says councils must build more houses

Responding to the release of the latest house building statistics today, Cllr Mike Jones, Chairman of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said:

“Today’s figures show recovery in the house building market over the last 12 months, reflecting increased confidence. The Government has said that we need to build 232,000 homes per year to keep up with household growth and is of the view that the planning system is to blame for not delivering the number of houses we need.

“There are half a million homes with planning permission in the system. Our research shows that regardless of changes to the planning system, the private sector only builds a long run average of 130,000 homes a year. We will only achieve the consistent level of house building the government aspires to if councils are allowed to build significantly more.

“We are urging the Chancellor to completely lift the centrally controlled housing borrowing cap in next month’s Budget and allow councils to invest under normal, responsible borrowing guidelines. This would enable councils to quickly scale up their investment in new homes.”

– See more at: http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10180/5948005/NEWS#sthash.xMPZHyHC.dpuf