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Last week saw the Government put housing right at the heart of the policy agenda with announcements on public sector reform and a consultation on the housing finance system. John Healey explains. Meeting Britain's housing needs is one of the very highest priorities for this Government and for Gordon Brown. That's why we are providing unprecedented support for those at risk of losing their homes, offering new help for first time buyers struggling to get their foot on the property ladder and bringing forward spending to give construction companies a lifeline and make sure that much needed homes get built. We have taken decisive action to maintain the supply of new affordable housing in the face of the most severe world recession in 50 years. Only last week, we unveiled a £1.5bn house-building package that will deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes to buy and rent over the next two years. This money will also extend our programme to get stalled housing projects back on track and prepare public sector land for construction of new homes as well as provide up to 45,000 new jobs in the construction and related industries. But central government cannot do this alone. Providing the housing that people need will be a powerful demonstration of what local government is capable of too. Housing has everything. It is social policy and economic policy. It is an essential element in supporting people during the downturn and in changing Britain to a low carbon country in the long term. It can show our commitment to public service investment and reform more clearly than almost any other area. Local authorities have a lead role in meeting the local housing needs, which of course differ from area to area. Over the past few years councils have taken strides in preventing homelessness and helping families out of temporary accommodation. Parallel to this, they have also shown great innovation in the ways that they deliver housing advice and services. One of the most recent illustrations of all of this has been the way many – though not yet all – local authorities have risen to the challenge of helping the most vulnerable families remain in their homes by participating in our mortgage rescue scheme. But it's not just about meeting the short-term challenges. Last week the prime minister confirmed that, for the first time in many years, he expects councils to play a central role in building the homes that Britain needs for the future. He announced a four-fold expansion of the programme first signalled in the Budget to enable local authorities to build an extra 3,000 new public homes. There is more to this however, than the Government investing extra money. I also want to give councils more flexibility and more control – the chance to do things differently. Alongside the renewed focus on building new homes, we will work with local authorities to ensure the whole public housing system is as responsive to local priorities and preferences as it can be. Also last week, I confirmed my aim to dismantle the housing revenue account, replacing it with a system that will give councils greater independence and freedom to manage their own housing resources. While a fully self-financing locally devolved system cannot be implemented in a single step, I do want to move as rapidly as possible to put these important reforms in place and will be consulting over the summer. There are steps we can take without delay so I announced that we will exclude all new build council housing from the HRA subsidy system which means that councils will retain in full the rent and capital receipts from these homes. The relationship between central and local government has had its tensions, and in previous years the temptation in a difficult financial climate might have been for Whitehall to retreat on localism and suck powers back towards the centre. This would be a mistake and a cop-out. Local government has a greater part to play in meeting the housing needs for every area of the country, to build for generations to come, and to create strong communities in doing so. John Healey is the housing minister

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Putting our housing in order

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