A new report out later this week shows that English councils will build up to 25,000 new homes in the next five years. As a result of the end of the housing revenue account subsidy, which allowed local authorities in England to keep rental income rather than pay it into a centralised pot, there is expected to be the first major wave of council building programmes for a generation.
The figure, calculated for the first time, comes from a report by the Association of Retained Council Housing, due to be released next week, and is based on research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Housing.