Council Plans To Build 500,000 Homes Thwarted By Government

A plan with potential to build more than 500,000 new homes over thirty years has been undermined by successive government policies, a report published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), claims. The report, 'Investing in council housing: The impact on HRA business plans', examines the 2012 'self-financing settlement' that put in place a robust long-term plan for council house building. The settlement encouraged councils to take on £13bn extra debt to finance building against the promise of future rental income. However, successive policy changes have cut rental income so that today, just 45,000 new homes are expected, no more than were planned before the settlement was made. Read more on the CIH website.