Councils have been urged to get rid of surplus land and buildings to boost the number of new homes being built by communities secretary Greg Clark.
Mr Clark said: ‘Councils are significant landowners and town halls should be looking at their estate, particularly brownfield sites, and thinking about how they could make better use of their holdings by releasing land for new homes for their communities.’
The Department for Communities and Local Government and the Homes and Communities Agency have already identified around 150 sites, which could be sold off. And over the next five years, the Government plans to release enough land for a further 150,000 homes.
‘I want to see departments going further and faster than before, starting right away, to loosen their grip on sites that are standing idle and to turn them over for house building,’ said Mr Clark.
According to government accounts, councils held £223bn of assets in 2011, of which £108bn was in land and buildings.
‘Housebuilding is at an eight-year high, with construction starts up 5% over the last year alone,’ said housing minister, Brandon Lewis. ‘We must maintain this momentum.
‘Over the next five years, we’re going to go further and faster, but where Whitehall is leading, town halls should follow, ensuring their land can be put to good use to deliver new homes across the country.’
