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<p>The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and
has given local authorities a comprehensive range of tools to deliver a new generation
of council housing.</p><p>To support the development of new affordable homes we are
investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment
in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable
Homes Programme. We are keen to see local authorities playing a key role in the delivery
of this programme alongside housing associations.</p><p>To further support local authority
development, in March 2021 we announced a package of reforms that will give local
authorities increased flexibility over how they spend their Right to Buy receipts
on replacement homes. This package will make it easier for authorities to fund new
homes using Right to Buy receipts including homes for social rent.</p><p>In addition,
since the abolition of the Housing Revenue Account in 2018 that enables local authorities
to borrow for building, we have given social landlords a longer term rent deal for
5 years from April 2020 allowing them to charge rents of up to CPI +1% per annum,
and reduced the Public Works Loan Board interest rates for borrowing for housing,
providing a stable investment environment to deliver new homes.</p><p>We want to see
local authorities using these tools to build more affordable homes.</p>
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