Call for councils to help solve housing slump

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The District Councils Network has called on the government to give local authorities more powers to build homes after market data showed a downturn in the construction market.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 43.3 from 45.0 in August, a worse than expected drop in sentiment.

Responding to the figures, vice chair of the DCN, Tom Beattie, said: “All councils just want to get on and build homes people need.

“Lifting the housing borrowing cap was a welcome start but the government needs to allow us to go further.

“It must reform Right to Buy, implement a streamlined compulsory purchase order process, introduce step-in rights to intervene on stalled proposals, and release Housing Infrastructure Funding to enable all areas to contribute to getting a roof over everyone’s head.”