Chancellor George Osborne announced an increase in the Housing Revenue Account borrowing limit in today’s Autumn Statement.

Mr Osborne ignored a call from councils to remove the cap entirely and instead agreed to increase the limit by £300m.

Other measures in the statement included unblocking £1bn of loans to unblock large housing developments in cities like Leeds and Manchester, and encouraging councils to sell off the most expensive affordable housing to build more.

Mr Osborne said: ‘We need to do more [on housing].

‘We want a functioning, stable housing market.’

The statement followed the Government’s announcement yesterday to speed up the delivery of new homes by cutting down unnecessary planning processes.