What councils are teaching us about housing delivery
The hardest housing decision is often not whether a council wants to build; it is how the scheme being considered is to be funded, managed, and defended when the risks become clear.
That distinction matters. A council may own land and have strong political support, but neither guarantees delivery.
Costs change. Sites prove more difficult than expected. An experienced officer leaves. A business case may still leave important questions about how the programme will be managed.
Since the LGA’s Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS) launched in 2025, more than 100 councils have engaged with the programme and over half have received tailored support.
Across 72 councils with support under way or completed, the most frequently identified theme was governance and delivery, followed by land and pipeline, skills and capacity, and finance and viability.
Through our engagement with councils, one lesson has become increasingly clear: housing delivery challenges rarely arise from a single issue. Governance, capacity, land supply and financial viability are closely linked, and pressures in one area can quickly affect progress elsewhere.
A list of council-owned sites, for example, is not a housing pipeline. Before members can make a sound decision, officers need to know which sites are feasible, which should come first, and how they could be funded and delivered.
One of the district councils we worked with already had a housing strategy, an agreed business plan and several possible sites. What it lacked was enough evidence to decide which schemes to take forward.
CHoSS supported feasibility and viability work on five priority sites, giving members and officers a firmer basis for their next decisions.
That is where councillors have influence.
We do not need to be development specialists, and our role is not to wave schemes through or second-guess every technical judgement. It is to ask whether the evidence is credible, whether the risks are understood, and to ensure the council is equipped to make and act on well-informed decisions.
Local government reorganisation (LGR) brings another layer of uncertainty. A small council with no housing stock may still want to build but be unsure where that ambition belongs in a future authority.
While LGR may be paused, there is still valuable work to be done. Councils can record viable sites, protect specialist knowledge and consider future landlord, governance and delivery arrangements.
There is no single model for navigating this transition.
CHoSS can bring councils and services together to identify the issues that need to be resolved, provide specialist advice and share learning from authorities that have been through reorganisation.
Support can also include governance reviews, member briefings and training.
The Government’s £46 million investment in the wider Capacity to Build programme will fund this support for a further three years and expand the LGA’s Pathways to Planning programme, developing graduates for specialist housebuilding roles.
For members, three questions are worth taking back to the council. Is our housing pipeline realistic? Do we understand the risks? Do officers have what they need to deliver the decisions we make?
Where the answer is unclear, or councils want greater confidence before making a decision, CHoSS can help.
- Visit our website for more on the LGA’s Council Housebuilding Support Service, including upcoming events and support for councils and elected members.