Councils are slammed over house building

Of 323 English local authorities, East Riding was only 15 places from the bottom at 308.

Shelter argues that the area needs 1,455 new homes each year, but the council is only building about 60 homes – just 4.12 per cent of the number needed.

The authority was one below Scarborough, ranked 307, which is providing four per cent of the affordable homes that are needed in that district.

Shelter's research found that 76 councils, including the East Riding, Scarborough and York, are providing on average fewer than 10 per cent of the number of homes needed in each area.

East Riding Council has been slow to provide affordable homes – just 372 were built between 2003 and 2009 for a waiting list of more than 10,000.

However, the council yesterday stressed that it had secured the largest grant in the country – 20m to match its own 20m contribution – to build more than 300 affordable houses in the next 18 months.

A spokesman said: "This will make a real impact on meeting locally identified needs in a range of different settlements. The council continues to promote affordable housing through a range of other activities."