HOUSING

MANY Tory MPs believe that tackling Britain’s housing shortage is vital for their party’s hopes of winning the next general election.

In his Budget last year, Philip Hammond announced that councils will be able to spend an extra £1billion collectively to invest in housing. And at his last Budget he announced a £44billion package of investment, loans and guarantees to increase the annual amount of new homes built.

While the Government has set a target of building 300,000 new homes a year, construction industry experts say far more cash is needed. Ministers complain that some councils are failing to spend money available to them to build houses.