Mayors outside of London will be given sweeping powers over some aspects of housing. 

The government says through its £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, mayors in six regions will have new house building spending authority.

The programme is expected to deliver at least 60% social rent homes – creating around 180,000 across England including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and the North East.

Housing secretary Steve Reed says: “Families have been trapped in so-called temporary accommodation for years or stuck on council waiting lists with no hope of a secure home.

“We’re changing that for good with the biggest boost to social housebuilding in a generation and getting behind mayors who are ready to build affordable housing across their regions.

“We’re also backing councils to build again and transform derelict sites into thriving neighbourhoods, urging them to go big, go bold and go build.”

The new programme forms a cornerstone of the government’s much-vaunted ‘Plan for Change’ to build 1.5m homes during the course of this Parliament.

To speed the process, and provide additional funding, councils will be allowed to combine Right to Buy receipts from sales with grant funding from next year.

The government will also shortly be informing councils of their initial offer under the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund and providing guidance on how they can apply for funding. The £950m will increase the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation for homeless families and driving down the use of costly B&Bs.

The government is also injecting £150 million to transform derelict brownfield sites into over 4,000 new homes. Awarded directly to mayoral strategic authorities, the money will be used to – in the government’s words – “unlock left-behind sites and create jobs, paving the way for more local families and working people to step onto the housing ladder.”

Homes England chief executive Amy Rees says: “The importance of this funding cannot be underestimated in opening the door to thousands of new, affordable homes for communities across the country – and we will do everything in our power to ensure every penny of grant allocation helps deliver the right homes in the right places, at pace, for the people who need them.

“Our team is incredibly proud and driven to help create a new generation of affordable and social rent homes, working alongside local leaders who know their communities best, and providers who have the expertise and commitment to deliver with our support.”