Today’s Financial Times  carries a letter from a coalition of councils, developers, housing associations, professional bodies and academics, headed by Sir Steve Bullock, executive member for housing at London Councils; Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation and Grainia Long, chief executive of the Chartered Institute for Housing. The letter urges the Government to remove the cap on local authority housing debt to allow councils the freedom to build more houses. The letter cites research which shows that increased funding could deliver 60,000 new affordable homes, which in turn would add 0.6% to GDP and create 19,200 jobs.

“This would be timely and would allow councils to start to fill the housing gap, but it would need to be in a strategically organised manner as I have been pressing for in Preston “, says County Cllr Bill Winlow