James Brokenshire MP has announced that £497m will be made available to housing associations across the country to deliver over 11,000 “affordable” properties by mid-2020.

Talking at the Building London Summit 2019, Brokenshire explained how one part of the plan will involve building modular homes off-site via a £9m funding deal with Apex Airspace Developments, which would then be winched onto London rooftops by the summer.

A total of 78 of these rooftop homes will be construed across five sites in London under the three-year deal.

Brokenshire added that 222,000 new homes were delivered last year, the highest in a decade and up 2 per cent from the previous year.

In addition, he said, the number of new homes being built had hit the highest level for a decade, up 12 per cent from 2017.

However, he also pointed out that net additions in London were down by almost 20 per cent last year, with 21 boroughs showing a dip in their annual supply.

On the £500m of extra funding, Brokenshire says: “By providing targeted investment in affordable homes, and funding innovative projects to build rooftop properties, we are making our housing market work for everyone.

“Our £500m funding boost for housing associations will help them build thousands of extra affordable homes – including properties for social rent.”

Homes England chairman, Sir Edward Lister adds: “I welcome the new strategic partners who share our ambition to build better homes faster.

“Our new ways of working with the sector means that housing associations can use their funding flexibly across their development programmes and respond quickly to local housing demand and a changing market.”