Leadership needed to build the homes that communities need says NFB
National Federation of Builders
The House Builders Association (HBA) – the housing division of NFB – agrees with the LGA’s appeal to enable local authorities to spend all of the money generated by the sale of properties under Right to Buy, saying that such a move would help diversify both the supply and type of housing.
The Local Government Association (LGA) warned that Right to Buy could collapse, as local authorities are struggling to replace sold homes.
Given that councils have built just 14,000 new homes to replace the 60,000 sold under Right to Buy since 2012, the LGA has renewed calls for local authorities to keep 100% of receipts from the sale of properties.
The House Builders Association (HBA) – the housing division of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) – agrees with the LGA’s appeal to enable local authorities to spend all of the money generated by the sale of properties under Right to Buy.
Such a move would help diversify both the supply and type of housing, as well as help the Government keep their original commitment to build one new home for every property sold under this scheme.
However, it should be noted that councils already have several powers to ensure a diverse supply of new homes in their communities, such as setting up their own house building companies or making sure publicly owned sites are developed.
Many local authorities also continue to criticise central government for their failures to deliver enough new homes, but the Government is not in control of their local plan making and planning process.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “Too few local authorities have grasped leadership opportunities and a standoff quite clearly remains between local and central government. The clearest example of this logjam is well portrayed by the new housing need methodology and the fact that, in late 2017, 43% of local authorities had not even published a draft local plan.
“Councils must recognise that unless they can demonstrate an understanding of the available mechanisms to build new homes, the Government will remain cautious about increasing their financial liability.”
