Councils should be given a stronger role as lead developers for the construction of new housing stock, a new report has urged today.

Issued by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and not-for-profit local government improvement body the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), the paper calls for lasting cross-party consensus to encourage elected members and their authorities to make bold long-term plans for social and affordable housing.

Entitled: ‘Housing the nation: ensuring councils can deliver more and better homes' the study argues the expansion of Combined Authorities is a major opportunity to ensure strategic planning between city regions.