Quarter of councils in England 'may sell homes to balance books'

More than a quarter of English councils expect to have to sell homes to balance their housing budgets while over a third have cut back on repairs and maintenance in what has been described as a crisis in social housing finance.

- Peter Walker

Based on responses from 76 stockholding councils, which manage their own social homes, the study found that nine in 10 expect to use emergency funds to try to balance the books in the next few years, and 71% say they are likely to delay or cancel ongoing housing projects.

Despite such measures, two-thirds of the councils said there was a risk they would still not be able to set a balanced budget.