CIH welcomes government announcement on local government reorganisation

The Chartered Institute of Housing welcomes clarification from the government today (29 October) on the next steps for local government reorganisation (LGR), which was paused in most affected areas following an announcement last month.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Growth, Jim McMahon, set out details of the government's LGR review which was announced in early September.

In five areas (East Sussex with Brighton and Hove, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire), reorganisation will go ahead based on the decisions announced earlier this year. In 15 other areas, the government will now reconsider how reorganisation should proceed.

The government has committed to providing all areas with a decision on LGR by early next year, with elections for the new councils to be held in May 2028 and the new authorities up and running in 2029. In Surrey, reorganisation will go ahead as previously announced, with new councils in place from April next year.

Tom Arnold, policy manager for regional engagement and devolution at CIH, said: "We welcome the clarity on the next steps for local government reorganisation. Local authority officers have been working hard to deliver LGR at pace and will require further support to ensure reorganisation does not affect service delivery. We urge the government to work closely with councils to ensure housing remains front and centre in reorganisation - particularly as the government has ambitions to deliver the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war era.

"A new two-tier structure of strategic and unitary local authorities, supported by fiscal devolution and mayoral powers, represents an exciting opportunity to deliver more and better housing, if the funding model is well designed."