Local authorities will have helped create 25,000 new homes by 2020 as part of a Whitehall programme to make more efficient use of public buildings, auditors have confirmed.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report into progress on the government estate strategy, published today, corrobarated Whitehall figures that local authorities will have helped create 44,000 new jobs, saved £98m in running costs and raised capital receipts of £415m under the first four phases of the initiative.