Recommendation 8

The Department specifies the overall number of homes (not just affordable homes) that local authorities should build each year, through a calculation known as the ‘standard method’. Local authorities must follow this unless they have exceptional circumstances, and face penalties under the Housing Delivery Test, if they do not deliver against their target.17 The National Audit Office found there is not a strong match between areas of high housing need and where housing providers build under the Programme.18 Shelter raised concerns there is no objective measure of demand for housing, outside of the total number of new homes delivered across England.19