Politics · 8 August 2026
Burnham's council housebuilding target has big funding gap
Prime Minister Andy Burnham's commitment to a significant council house construction initiative, unmatched in scale since the postwar era, confronts a considerable hurdle. Building a house is now about £76,000 more expensive than five years ago due to material costs. To hit 300,000 homes for social rent, a new report found the government would need to boost its spending to £47 billion by 2036.
Reported by Independent · How we write briefs