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Councils are not just planners and regulators, they are market-shapers, convenors and increasingly, delivery partners.As affordability pressures intensify, local government's ability to use its powers creatively and to bring partners with it is becoming decisive in whether homes are built, at what pace, and for whom.Housing delivery is often and understandably framed as a national challenge, driven by macro levers such as interest rates, grant funding and the planning framework.And yet, the places that maintain delivery through difficult conditions tend to share a common characteristic: a council that understands its role in shaping the local housing system end-to-end – from land and infrastructure through to tenure mix and affordability.Local housing markets do not operate in isolation. They are shaped by policy, investment and institutional behaviour. Councils influence supply through planning policies, density and design standards, and affordable housing negotiations. They also shape conditions in the private rented sector through licensing, enforcement and standards.The statutory planning role remains central, but enabling delivery goes well beyond plan-making and determining applications. It is about providing certainty and investability. This includes clear site allocations, consistent policies, early engagement and a willingness to resolve issues collaboratively, rather than allowing risk to stall schemes.Infrastructure co-ordination is equally critical. Aligning transport, education, health provision, utilities and public realm investment with housing growth is complex, but fundamental. Where councils take a strategic view, use developer contributions effectively and work closely with statutory partners, sites are more likely to move from consent to construction.Councils can also influence delivery directly. As landowners, and in many cases, development partners, they have the ability to de-risk sites, particularly complex brownfield locations, while setting expectations around quality, design and tenure. Through joint ventures, development agreements or regeneration programmes, councils can shape outcomes that the market alone might not prioritise.Procurement and commissioning choices matter too. Packaging opportunities to support SME builders, balancing pace with quality through frameworks, and embedding social value all contribute to more resilient delivery pipelines. Even where councils are not the developer, they play a vital convening role, bringing together developers, registered providers, investors and communities around a shared vision.Local housing markets do not operate in isolation. They are shaped by policy, investment and institutional behaviour. Councils influence supply through planning policies, density and design standards, and affordable housing negotiations. They also shape conditions in the private rented sector through licensing, enforcement and standards.Less visible ‘demand-side' functions are equally influential. Allocations, homelessness prevention and temporary accommodation strategies all affect how households move through the system. Under sustained pressure, these functions can inadvertently reinforce market distortions.We have seen this first-hand, when councils compete for limited private rented homes or pay elevated nightly rates. A whole-system perspective is therefore essential.In practice, effective market-shaping rests on three pillars:--First, evidence: a clear, realistic understanding of need, affordability and viability-Second, relationships: strong partnerships across the housing ecosystem – from developers and lenders to infrastructure providers-Third, confidence: maintaining public trust that growth will deliver quality, infrastructure and fairness.Councils have traditionally focused direct intervention on those in acute need. However, constraints on access to home ownership are now feeding back into those statutory pressures.When households are unable to buy, they remain in the private rented sector for longer, contributing to higher demand and upward pressure on rents. Overcrowding can increase, and fewer homes become available across the housing chain. In turn, this makes homelessness prevention more challenging and increases demand for temporary accommodation.There is also a place-shaping dimension. If home ownership becomes unattainable for a broad range of residents, areas risk losing younger households, families and key workers. For councils with regeneration ambitions, ensuring that existing communities can benefit from growth is critical to sustaining support for change.In Enfield, these pressures prompted a closer look at the barriers facing prospective first-time buyers and the broader implications for the local housing system. The council convened a time-limited commission to explore practical, evidence-based solutions, bringing together expertise from across housing, development and finance.The intention was not simply to revisit established approaches, but to test what might work in current conditions – recognising constraints such as deposit requirements, borrowing capacity and viability challenges. The work highlighted the extent to which the functioning of the first-time buyer market underpins wider delivery, particularly for newbuild homes.While this was just one strand of activity, it reflects a broader principle: councils can use their convening power to bring different parts of the system together, build a shared understanding of challenges and identify actionable interventions.For councils seeking to sustain delivery and improve outcomes, several themes emerge:Build shared delivery pipelines with developers, registered providers and infrastructure bodies, so constraints are identified early and addressed collectivelyUse planning to provide clarity and consistency, supported by strong viability expertise to ensure policy ambitions translate into deliveryTreat public land as a strategic asset, using it to de-risk schemes, set standards and secure tenures aligned with local needTake a whole-system approach, aligning homelessness, allocations and temporary accommodation strategies with planning and regeneration priorities to avoid working at cross purposes.Ultimately, councils enable housing delivery when they combine statutory authority with convening power – setting a clear direction for growth, aligning infrastructure and investment, and shaping local markets so delivery leads to better outcomes for residents.The experience in Enfield illustrates how local leadership can respond to changing market conditions – not by relying on a single intervention – but by understanding the housing system as a whole and using the full range of council levers to influence it.Joanne Drew is director of housing and regeneration at Enfield LBC

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HOUSING

Market-shaping councils, better housing outcomes

By Joanne Drew | 11 June 2026

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