The Government has confirmed it will invest £1.67bn in social housing deal to deliver 23,000 affordable homes.

Communities secretary James Brokenshire said the cash would support 'a new generation of council housing'.

Mr Brokenshire also announced that £1bn of HRA borrowing will be made available for councils to deliver new housing.

A bidding process will now begin for both programmes, with successful bids for the affordable homes funding notified throughout the year.

Mr Brokenshire said the investment would include at least 12,500 'social rent homes' in high cost areas to support families struggling to pay their rent.

He said: 'The government has ambitious plans to fix the broken housing market and build the homes our communities need.

'Today’s announcement is a further milestone. It will secure the delivery of an additional 23,000 much-needed affordable homes as well as paving the way for a new generation of council houses.'

The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomed the borrowing raise but said the cap should be scrapped across the country.

Cllr Martin Tett, LGA housing spokesman, said: 'The next step for the Government now is to accept the calls of the LGA and the influential Treasury Select Committee to scrap the cap on council borrowing in every community across the country.

'This would free councils to make the investment decisions that will boost housebuilding in their local areas unencumbered from rules and regulations created in Whitehall.'