Coalition of English councils calls for emergency £644m to fund housing

100 local authorities say council housing finance model is broken' and more money is needed to build new homes

An unprecedented coalition" of councils in England has called for an emergency injection of 644m from the government to stabilise their housing accounts and prevent investment in new homes being delayed or cancelled.

After Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, promised a council housing revolution", 100 local authorities have now warned that the financial model for council housing finances is broken", with a 2.2bn black hole" in councils' dedicated budgets expected by 2028.