The Housing Forum is calling on the next government to create a £4bn Housing Accelerator Fund to deliver 60,000 new affordable homes, as part of its general election housing manifesto.

The manifesto states that building 60,000 new affordable rented homes would help to tackle the backlog, reduce homelessness by more than half over three years and slash expenditure on temporary accommodation.

To drive up housing supply, the housing membership network, which is comprised of more than 150 organisations, has said the government needs to incentivise local authorities meeting “ambitious housing targets”.