Home Connections welcome Prime Minister Andy Burnham's commitment to turbocharge council house building and eradicate rough sleeping.

As a leading not-for-profit organisation supporting social housing lettings across the UK, we have seen the number of council lettings decline year on year through our choice-based lettings systems. For over 25 years, Home Connections has worked with councils and housing providers to help people access social housing, giving us a unique insight into the growing gap between housing demand and supply.

Our recent white paper highlighted this challenge, including one London borough where a single one-bedroom council property received more than 200 bids. This level of demand demonstrates just how urgently more social housing is needed.

After almost 50 years of declining council housing, we hope this marks the beginning of a long-term reversal. We also believe that increasing supply should be accompanied by measures that help protect existing council housing stock, building on approaches already adopted in other parts of the UK.

Ending rough sleeping is equally important. Home Connections delivers the StreetLink service on behalf of MHCLG, helping members of the public connect people sleeping rough with local outreach teams so they can receive support quickly.

Home Connections is also continuing to develop its homelessness case management software to help local authorities better understand homelessness journeys, track outcomes and support people moving away from rough sleeping.

We have also written to the Prime Minister to offer our support through the expansion of Homefinder UK, our national housing relocation and move-on service, which has already helped almost 2,000 homeless households secure permanent accommodation across the UK.

Ninesh Muthiah, CEO of Home Connections, said:

Increasing the supply of social housing and ending rough sleeping are two of the biggest challenges facing our sector. These are issues we see every day through the work we do with councils, housing providers and government.

There isn't a single solution, but by combining investment with practical services, technology and strong partnerships, we can help more people find and sustain a safe, secure home. Home Connections stands ready to play its part.