To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will amend the affordability criteria issued by the Homes and Communities Agency in its consideration of applications for social housing grant to provide that borrowing by local authorities is treated in the same way as that by registered social landlords. (302876)

The premise of our current local authority funding programme is that new social housing building by councils on land they already own should represent value for money.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider the merits of introducing a floor mechanism in his proposed reform of council housing finance to provide that no local authority will lose from the change. (302877)

Our proposals for reforming the council housing finance system include increases in the assumed need to spend on management, maintenance and major repairs which would put all councils in a better financial position than under a continuation of the current system.