A Labour government will 'apply the stick' to local authorities which fail to meet their housing need, Shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds has warned.

She told the Mipim UK conference: 'Some local authorities are inventive and want to build. But some are not so keen on house building. We need to incentivise them or there will be a stick to persuade them they need to build houses for the next generation.'

She said there would be 'more specific proposals' in the forthcoming Lyons report concerning a 'common methodology for assessing need.'