Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing financial borrowing rules for local authorities for council house building.

Local authorities set their own capital strategies and are free to determine their own borrowing limits within the Prudential Framework.

The government is helping local authorities borrow at a reduced cost from the Public Works Loan Board to support council housebuilding in the Housing Revenue Account. The preferential rate of gilts+0.4% rate will be in place to the end of 2025-26.

We will bring forward details of future government investment in social and affordable housing at the multi-year Spending Review this year.