Three-quarters of councils expect to abandon or delay house building projects in blow to Labour’s plans
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Angela Rayner’s flagship housing promise under threat as councils set to scrap plans to build more homes. Nearly three-quarters of local authorities expect to abandon, pause or delay current council housing projects due to struggling finances in a blow to Labour’s desired large-scale building plans.
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Most councils will struggle to deliver new social housing at scale as their budgets are on the “brink of collapse”, according to research which suggests the government’s “council housing revolution” may be in jeopardy. A survey found two-thirds of 76 councils managing more than 870,000 homes said the viability of their dedicated budgets are under threat, with a risk many will not be able to balance the books by the end of the decade.
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The research, commissioned by Southwark Council, showed 71 per cent were expecting to stop current council housing projects and 68 per cent would scale back commitments to redevelop or build new homes. Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, has said that she wants to see “the biggest wave of council housing in a generation”.
Boosting the supply of council and social housing is also a key element of Labour’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million new homes, which is equivalent to nearly 400,000 new homes a year. Ms Rayner has described the aim as a personal mission, telling social housing leaders in November that she has “skin in the game”.
