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| No 10 denies 'housing cash row' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Downing Street has denied reports that there is no agreement over funding for Gordon Brown's plan to build an extra 20,000 affordable homes in two years. | |
| Ministers will later set out how the government plans to pay for a £1.5bn boost in housing spending in England. | |
| Half of the money is expected to come from the department for communities (DCLG) and the other half from underspends in other departments. | |
| The Times reported the DCLG had refused to accept it would foot half the bill. | |
| But a Downing Street spokesman described the reports as "simply untrue" and said there was agreement. | |
| Under spending | |
| But he said the DCLG had still to finalise the details of how this money was to be "re-prioritised" from within its budget. | |
| The DCLG also said that there was no disagreement with Downing Street, although no single programme had been identified for cuts to pay for the homes. | |
| A further £750m is due to come from under spending by other government departments, including health and the Home Office. | |
| Schools Secretary Ed Balls confirmed that £200m was being transferred from his department's budget to the DCLG to help pay for new homes. | |
| Waiting lists | |
| He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme it would come from a £400m reserve set aside in case private firms did not want to engage in private finance initiatives during the recession. | |
| He said it now appeared that would not be needed. | |
| Details of the plans are due to be spelled out by housing minister John Healey, in a speech in Harrogate. | |
| He will explain to council leaders the outcome of a council housing finance review, which could see councils returning to large-scale home building. | |
| Mr Brown said the government was consulting on whether to allow councils to keep all the money raised from council house sales and rent. | |
| He also proposed to let councils in England give local people more priority on housing waiting lists - which was seen as a response to the growth in a few traditional Labour areas of BNP support. | |
| The National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations in England, has welcomed the extra investment but pointed out only 4% of its properties were let to non-UK residents last year. | |
| Currently, council tenants' rent and proceeds from right-to-buy sales go into a national pot for redistribution. | Currently, council tenants' rent and proceeds from right-to-buy sales go into a national pot for redistribution. |
| Some councils get money back while others have to pay a negative subsidy to the government. If they were to keep the money, councils may be able to build and repair more homes. | |
| In the past two decades, very few homes have been built by councils as housing associations have been the main providers of social housing. | In the past two decades, very few homes have been built by councils as housing associations have been the main providers of social housing. |
| BBC local government correspondent John Andrew said he did not expect a return to the kind of mass council house building seen in the 1950s and 1960s. | BBC local government correspondent John Andrew said he did not expect a return to the kind of mass council house building seen in the 1950s and 1960s. |
| But he said it would go some way to meeting the huge unmet demand for social housing as the number on housing waiting lists approaches five million. | |