The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) could lose up to £600m of its annual budget following Britain's withdrawal from the EU, auditors have warned as the two-year countdown to the UK leaving the union begins today.

A report on civil service capability published by the National Audit Office (NAO) last week revealed that 13% of the DCLG's total departmental expenditure was paid through the EU in 2014/15.