Councils and landlords should ensure social housing services focus on people, not just the homes they live in, said housing minister Yvette Cooper in a speech to the Housing Corporation and Chartered Institute of Housing.

Cooper announced a package of measures and extra investment aimed at making social housing fairer, more effective and more personal. The plans will re-focus social housing around the needs of tenants such as young families needing to move to larger homes. The Government’s plans include the launch of a major new crackdown on cramped housing.

A new national ‘Overcrowding Action Plan’ sets out proposals for increasing the number of larger homes nationally with £15m funds over the next three years to help councils do more in the areas most under pressure. The funding will be targeted at 38 of the most overcrowded areas in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester.

Cooper said: “Around 70% of households are now homeowners, and 90% say they want to be. As a Government we want to widen access to home ownership and help more people build up assets. But home ownership can’t be sustainable for everyone. And for some it is a real struggle to find an affordable stable home in the private sector.”