It's no secret that for the best part of 30 years, local authorities built virtually nothing in terms of new social housing. In fact, the number of new council homes being built nationally dropped significantly from around 100,000 a year in 1978 to fewer than 1,000 a year in the early 1990s. In real terms, this means the country has lost around three million homes.

The introduction of Right to Buy in 1980 saw an increasing number of council homes transfer to private ownership. In Birmingham alone, thousands of former council homes were bought by tenants – stock that could not be replaced due to legislation at the time. Additionally, some of the council housing built in the mid-20th century no longer meets modern needs.