Councils can build homes again, but funding alone won’t drive delivery

By Caroline Compton-James 2026-10-23T06:00:00

Local authorities will need to be efficient and have the necessary capacity to translate Burnham’s ambitions into outcomes, writes Caroline Compton-James

At the Labour Party Conference last month, the Prime Minister reinforced the government’s desire to get councils building again. Promising the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war era, he talked about restoring stronger democratic control over housing, reforming right to buy for newly built homes and giving councils the power to take control of long-term empty properties and bring them back into public use.

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