What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

More than 23,000 social homes have been sold off under the Tories in the last year, official figures reveal today.

The statistics are an embarrassing dose of reality for Philip Hammond - just a day after his Budget.

The Chancellor made a pledge to build 300,000 more homes a year the centrepiece of his statement to MPs.

Yet he failed to say how many of them will be affordable.

And today's figures show England gained just 12,000 socially rented homes overall in 2016, once sell-offs were taken into account.

The increase would have been higher if the number of social homes sold off had not risen by 5%.

(Image: Getty)

The number of social housing sell-offs is now at its highest level for a decade, fuelled by a rise in sales under the Right to Buy.

Critics fear they are not being replaced "like-for-like" after the Mirror revealed dozens of councils failed to replace a single home sold under Right to Buy in a one year period.

Lib Dem Housing spokeswoman Wera Hobhouse said: "Philip Hammond is letting down a whole generation by neglecting the building of social housing.

"Thousands of homes are being sold off, but councils aren’t being given the resources to replace them.

"Instead of spending billions of pounds preparing for a Tory Brexit , the government should invest in affordable homes."

Gavin Smart, deputy chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), said: “Social rent is the only truly affordable option for many people on lower incomes.

"These figures emphasise just how much further we need to go to make sure we have enough social rented homes available.

"If the government is going to meet its new target to deliver 300,000 homes a year, councils will have to play a major part."

Mr Hammond announced yesterday he would lift councils' borrowing limits to allow them to build more homes.

But his flagship £670m-a-year plan to scrap Stamp Duty for most first-time buyers fell apart after experts said it would push up house prices.

Figures last week showed England had 217,350 net additional homes in 2016/17, up 15% in a year, but they were not broken down by private and social housing.