Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Secretary of State Angela Rayner have announced nearly £10bn of allocations to build thousands of council, social and affordable homes in England.

The first wave of funding will support the delivery of more than 70,000 homes across England.

Responding to the announcement, Francesca Albanese, Director of Policy & Social Change at Crisis, said:

“With nearly 180,000 children currently living in temporary accommodation in England, we warmly welcome support being given to councils and housing associations to deliver more social homes in England, which we so desperately need.

“Councils have historically played a significant role in delivering social homes in this country. However, cuts to funding in recent years have seriously hindered their ability to do this. Last year, we saw a net loss of nearly 4,000 social homes across England. Now is an opportunity to address this and we can see the steps that the Westminster Government is taking to enable a new generation of council housing.

“This announcement means that the work of building more genuinely affordable homes at serious scale can finally begin. In particular, the strong commitment for at least 60% of those built intended for social rent.

“This is a much-needed shift, and Ministers must continue momentum. With people stuck on waiting lists right now, bringing forward more of the £39bn funding for social housing at the Autumn Budget should be seriously considered so that people can move into safe and secure homes as soon as possible and do not have to spend years in limbo. The Prime Minister has clearly stated that everything starts with a good home. Taking these steps will bring us closer to ending homelessness for good.”