Labour Studies Plan to Shift Housing Power to Councils

Billions of pounds paid in housing benefit could be handed to England's councils to shift spending from subsidising high rents to building homes, under proposals to be studied by Labour's Treasury team.  The plan could mean the transfer in a five-year budget of almost £1.5bn for west Yorkshire, more than £1.4bn for Greater Manchester and Liverpool, just under £1bn for south Yorkshire and just under £700m for the north-east.  The proposals would be a large shift in the architecture of British welfare, reversing a 30-year trend of subsidising high rents rather than housebuilding. They would also transfer power from Whitehall to England's regions.  The plan has been drawn up by the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research, which warns of the consequences for welfare spending if housing benefit is not reformed.  Read more on the Guardian website.