Labour chair of housing committee calls for urgent funds for affordable homes in England

Exclusive: Abena Oppong-Asare urges chancellor to unlock billions of pounds, as housing associations say they could build 41,000 homes in 10 years

The Labour chair of the Commons housing committee is urging John Healey to bring forward billions of pounds of planned spending on social and affordable homes in England, after housing associations said they were ready to build tens of thousands more.

Abena Oppong-Asare called for the chancellor to allocate money from the 39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) as soon as possible, rather than after the election as planned.