Almost a third of councils in England have failed a new government test of whether they are building enough new homes for local people.

New analysis reveals that Conservative councils were the worst culprits, with 35 per cent having failed ministers’ “housing delivery test” – including housing secretary’s James Brokenshire own local authority.

Many Labour councils also failed to build enough homes, with 29 per cent not meeting targets, as did 33 per cent of those under no overall control. Four of the 12 Liberal Democrat-controlled councils (33 per cent) also fell short.

The figures are the first to show how many councils have failed the government’s housing delivery test, which was introduced last year.

The results are likely to fuel concerns that cash-strapped councils are struggling to cope with growing demand for new housing.

UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 UK Housing Crisis: in pictures UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Members of ‘generation rent’, as the younger generation is often known, are finding it far more difficult to get on the housing market than previous generations PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Then chancellor George Osborne visits a Help to Buy housing development in Lewisham in 2014. Osborne had announced the Help to Buy scheme in the 2013 budget as a means of helping first-time buyers on to the housing market PA Archive/PA Images UK Housing Crisis: in pictures In February 2017, then communities and local government secretary Sajid Javid issued a government white paper on housing. Introducing it in the Commons, he stated ‘our housing market is broken’ and that ‘the idea of owning or renting a safe, secure place of your own is, for many, a distant dream’ PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Residents of Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill have demonstrated how urban areas might be built up without using extra land. 12 homeowners along the street all agreed to extend their house upwards by 1 floor. The government recently held a consultation on the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which, if approved, will support building above homes, shops and offices Google Earth UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Social Bite, a charity in Scotland, is creating a small housing community for the homeless. Up to 20 people will be housed for 12-18 months, with the charity’s focus being on transitioning the residents into permanent housing and employment AFP/Getty UK Housing Crisis: in pictures A homeless man was found dead yards from Parliament in February. His death was taken by many, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to be symbolic of the government’s poor record on housing. PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Emergency homeless shelters in London had to be opened numerous times throughout the past winter to house those unable to find a room in an ordinary shelter or hostel Getty UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Carillion, the UK’s second largest construction company, entered liquidation early this year. It held numerous government construction and maintenance contracts, for many of which the future is still uncertain AFP/Getty

While 219 councils met their target, 107 did not, with their combined shortfall totalling almost 64,000 homes – equating to a 30 per cent shortfall across the 107 councils.

Under new government rules, councils face a series of penalties if they fail to the build the number of new homes that local people need.

Those that are only narrowly missing their target have to publish an action plan outlining how they will bridge the gap in future. 21 councils will now have to do this.

Councils with a bigger shortfall have to make 20 per cent more land available for housing, and those with the biggest gap between demand and supply have to introduce a policy of granting planning permission for new housing by default, unless they can show that it will be highly damaging to the local area.

Temporary allowances mean none will currently face the most severe penalty, but 86 will now be forced to introduce the 20 per cent of land “buffer”.

Analysis by Labour revealed that Mr Brokenshire’s local council, Bexley, had a shortfall of 11 per cent, while Basingstoke and Deane council, which includes most of housing minister Kit Malthouse’s constituency, had a 24 per cent deficit.

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John Healey MP, Labour's shadow housing secretary, said: “The government’s own housing delivery test confirms that Labour in local government delivers more homes for local people. After nine years of failure on housing right across the country, Conservative-controlled councils are too often a roadblock to building the new homes communities need.