The lack of finance needed to build homes and buy homes is at the heart of the housing crisis. This was the consensus that emerged from a meeting at the Conservative Party Conference, hosted by the National Federation of Builders (NFB) and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

In a discussion on the impact of localism on the construction industry, LGA Vice-Chair Councillor Gary Porter defended local authorities' willingness to help tackle the housing crisis and argued for the next tranche of quantitative easing to be pumped through local authorities to be used to kick start house building.

Speaking at the fringe event at the Conservative Party conference today, John Howell MP said some local authorities needed to work harder to embrace the Government’s planning reforms and deliver the new housing and infrastructure local communities and neighbourhoods need.

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Brian Berry, FMB Chief Executive said: "It's good to hear from the LGA and from our members that some local authorities are already renegotiating Section 106 agreements in order to help deliver more homes. We want to see this flexibility replicated across all local authorities so that the local population can reap the economic and social benefits of new housing in the right places. Coupled with this willingness, councils now need more opportunities to invest in helping builders build and buyers buy."

Julia Evans, NFB Chief Executive said: "We know that finance is at the heart of our current difficulties. Recognition of that is a start, but we need solutions. The idea of putting future quantitative easing through local authorities is certainly one which should be explored. We need finance to flow to where it is needed. Local authorities are at the coalface of delivering the housing we need and they are used to working with smaller volume builders to develop smaller sites. A constructive dialogue between local authorities and local builders is key to getting us out of the current predicament."

(CD/GK)