The Deputy Prime Minister has announced the launch of the new Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS), a fully funded initiative to boost council-led housebuilding across England.
Funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the programme will provide tailored capacity and capability support to help councils establish, enhance, or accelerate their delivery of high-quality, affordable council homes.
Following a shortlisting process, a vanguard of 10 councils has been selected to co-design the programme, where those councils identified local challenges that could be unlocked with national support:
With Housing Revenue Accounts (HRAs):
- Cornwall Council
- Eastbourne Borough Council
- Newcastle City Council
- Salford City Council
- Southampton City Council
Without HRAs:
- London Borough of Merton
- Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
- Rother District Council
- Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
- Wirral Council
Whilst co-designing the programme, each of these councils will receive some bespoke support shaped around their specific needs, including access to expert advice, practical tools, peer learning, and strategic input.
Following this early phase with the vanguard, the full support offer will soon become available to all councils across England. Councils are encouraged to visit the CHoSS webpage and register their interest in the programme.
Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the LGA, said: “This new programme comes at a critical time for local government. Councils want to do more to deliver the council houses their communities need, and this initiative will give them the tools, advice and support to do just that.
“The CHoSS programme is a positive step forward in unlocking the potential of councils to drive local housing delivery at scale, and we are pleased to be working with government on this shared ambition.
“The CHoSS team will work closely with participating authorities over the summer to refine and test the self-assessment tool and co-produce a scalable model for broader rollout later in the year.”
