North East Hertfordshire Labour MP Chris Hinchliff has challenged ministers to put a number on the government's promise to deliver the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period.
Opening a Westminster Hall debate on the delivery of council housing on Tuesday, Hinchliff, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on council and social housing, said that with the Budget imminent he would ask the minister just one question: "will he put a number on what is meant by 'the biggest council house building programme' since the end of the post-war period?"
Chris Hinchliff: 'The problem is the rubbish, not the public'
He rejected the idea that communities are an obstacle to development. "There is no public support barrier to building high-quality homes in the towns and villages in my constituency. Indeed, people are crying out for it," he said. "When the public tell us they do not want this particular rubbish, the problem is the rubbish, not the public."
Hinchliff, whose group is holding an inquiry into the barriers to council house building, also urged ministers to help councils buy empty and existing homes at scale to bring waiting lists down while new building ramps up.
Minister sets out support for councils
Housing, Communities and Local Government minister Jim McMahon said more than £21 billion of social and affordable housing funding was still to be allocated and would be prioritised for social homes, particularly council homes. A preferential Public Works Loan Board borrowing rate for council house building will be extended, with details to follow.
He pointed to a further £46 million over three years to build council capacity, a rise from 200 to 1,000 homes in the threshold at which councils must open a housing revenue account, and right-to-buy reforms that exempt newly built social homes for 35 years and let councils keep all their sales receipts.
Closing the debate, Hinchliff noted the minister had not answered his question. He said a quick search suggested 47,000 council homes were built in 1979, and asked whether the government was aiming for something like that each year.
