Local authorities should ‘seriously consider’ entering into joint venture partnerships with housing associations, a think-tank has urged.

A report by NLGN today stressed the importance of collaboration between councils and housing associations (HA).

According to research by NLGN, councils and HAs share the same top three objectives - providing affordable housing, creating supported housing for vulnerable groups and regenerating neighbourhoods.

The majority of councils and HAs also already have either ‘very good’ relationships (38%) or a ‘good’ relationship (51%), according to NLGN’s England-wide survey.

A senior HA officer is quoted as saying: ‘We’re in it for the same reasons as local authorities are.

'We’re not in it for the money.'

Different types of partnerships were suggested - from informal collaboration on an ad hoc basis to formal partnerships like a joint venture.

NLGN director, Adam Lent, said: ‘As the country faces the biggest housing crisis in a generation, local authorities are best placed to determine local demand in housing need and meet it.

‘As such, the Government should remove the barriers that prevent both housing associations and councils collaborating and innovating together.’