Collaboration on affordable housing is key to easing the financial burden on local authorities, The MJ Future Forum North heard this afternoon.

Chief executive of MSV Housing, Charlotte Norman, said it was an issue that was ‘destroying council budgets', citing temporary housing costs amid rising levels of homelessness.

She added: ‘We need to build more social homes. The challenge is having discussions about how we do that.'

Norman said there had been a lack of policies from governments across the political spectrum for ‘decades' and options such as removing planning hurdles, land value and regenerating existing homes were required.

Outgoing chief executive of Middlesbrough Council, Clive Heaphy said the launch of a mayoral development corporation under the Tees Valley Combined Authority ‘opens up a more agile model of delivery'.

Although there was some sacrificing of control in Middlesbrough, it ‘brings opportunities to do things in a very different way' through a ‘faster and more responsive route'.

However, Heaphy also said ‘it has to be a partnership of equals'.

He added: ‘The north east has for too long been a fractured area. We are a few years behind the North West but the opportunities are there for us.'

Heaphy also noted a shift to spending on relief rather than prevention in Middlesbrough.

He said while building more social homes was essential, so too was tackling the causes of homelessness.

For example, 23% of cases in Middlesbrough were due to domestic abuse, compared to a 10% average for the region.

‘It's not just about physical infrastructure, it needs a support mechanism,' he added.