Paul Smith

English councils to build houses again on a scale not seen in decades, construction is estimated to have over 13,000 homes over a period of 12 months. That is tiny will need in comparison with housing, But many councils still continue to expand, so this could be a sign of The Return of the Council House ?

hundreds of thousands of families the chance of your Council home and turns your financial status, But it led to local authorities losing an estimated two million homes. Long time tenant can still buy houses at a discount, and the councils only get a third of the proceeds.

In 2017-18 there were.

A short walk from the River Avon in Bristol, looking out on a Playground, it is a collection of new-built houses. With double-height windows on the upper floors, they look like an exclusive private development. But they are the latest addition to Bristol's Council housing stock.

"It's a Dream House ," a tenant said. The single mother, the only move in two months ago, had a room to life with your baby in a flat in a high-rise building. Now she has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garden. Your baby has his own room, and loves playing in The Garden . She Said : "He is so much happier Here . "

But in their view, the need for more and more houses are urgently needed.

There is an acute shortage of housing in Bristol, with its 13,000 families, The Council on the waiting list. Within three years, The Local authority is the biggest developer in The City . The Council has completed 200 homes and has plans for a further 900.

"We have not yet built as this since The 70S ," said Councillor Paul Smith , Cabinet member for housing.

However, not all apartments social Council rented housing. Aston Rise, the biggest development so far, 80 of the 130 houses are sold to private buyers in order to Finance The Project .

Some of The Council houses in The Heart of the estate you have views of the Clifton Suspension Bridge , and might be attractive to buy for a long-term tenant.

In The Past , Mr Smith was very critical of The Right , But he said that The Council had no choice But to buildings. "We have already seen how our new housing in the lives of the people, the lives of their children. "

Last year, Professor Janice Morphet from the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College in London, all councils in England on their housing plans. She came to the conclusion that they had built or acquired More Than 13,000 homes over a period of 12 months.

These are a mixture of different tenures - Some traditional social rented housing, others for sale or a higher rent. Most of these do not appear on official statistics of the government. "This is partly because the councils are only just beginning," She Said , in part, because of the different routes you use.

According to their research, Conservative and Labour councils to build. Almost 80% of them have Set Up companies to do this. If you build houses, the by these companies, rather than their own housing revenue account, you are not entitled to Buy the rights.

Becontree was once described as the largest housing estate in Europe, the size of a small city with 100,000 people. Now 80% of the houses have been sold to Buy the rights, and The Local authority, Barking and Dagenham, to see what The Local politicians, as a real estate crisis.

The Council is one of The Most ambitious building programs through his company the First.

Council leader Darren Rodwell said he hoped to see the equivalent of "two new Becontrees" in the next 20 years. But they are not the traditional Council estates: it is a mixture of tenures, in different places. Some of the new rented homes come from deals with private landlords, to build the "to rent".

Mr Rodwell is confident that these new homes are not eligible To Purchase the rights, in spite of the role of The Council . "You use the protection of the Private Sector to deliver what I see as the goals of the 21St Century community," he said.

However, the policy of the government in the promotion of residential property. It supports The Right to Buy, The Help to Buy policy, which helps First Time buyers to purchase new houses, and is now the consulting to a new "First houses" policy.

This would provide a further discount to home buyers, and are paid for by contributions from the housing developers who are already through the planning system: currently often pays for social or affordable housing.

Some members of Parliament criticise the councils " approach.

The Conservative Bob Blackman said more social housing was urgently needed, and it was good that the councils, the buildings were again. But he said he thought it was "fundamentally wrong", you were with your own company, in order to prevent that they are sold to the tenants. He has called on the government to investigate.

Mr Blackman said it was good that more social housing was built, he thought, should the authorities more and more of the revenue from the sale of, and use it to build more, "so that we can have a "virtuous circle".

"We continue to provide new social housing in This Country and how to improve the people, their circumstances, they have The Right to possess this property, and can have more people move in, the property was developed. "

The Ministry of housing said it was "important that social housing tenants have the opportunity to home-owners" and, while the housing companies can be an effective way to new homes, "we would expect you to provide the opportunity for tenants, home-owners-to-be".

To get much more facts about the case and how it affects you, download the full BBC Briefing on the case. In the end, it is useful to help terminology, guide you through The Debate .

part of a mini-series of downloadable guides to the major topics in the news, it has the Expertise of scientists, researchers, and journalists, and the BBC's response to the demands for a better explanation, the facts behind the Headlines .

Source of news: bbc.com