The Government must help London boroughs build more council housing in the capital, a local government association has said.

London Councils says money generated from selling off existing social housing should be reinvested in the city.

Under Right to Buy legislation, in place since 1980, council tenants can buy their home from the local authority at a reduced rate.

But 70 percent of the money generated through these compulsory sales in the capital is pooled by central government, according to London Councils.

Boroughs must also spend money from council house sales within three years – making large housing developments difficult to fund, because they often take longer to complete.

London Councils is now asking the Government to scrap these spending restrictions, so more money can be reinvested in council housing for the city.

Their appeal came last week on the 100th anniversary of the Addison Act, a landmark law which paved the way for large-scale council house building.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, leader of Barking and Dagenham council, and London Councils’ housing representative, said it was time to “turbocharge” council housebuilding.

He said: “Ending the unfair rules around the use of Right to Buy receipts would mean all money raised from council house sales in London could go back into building replacement homes.

“This would be the sort of boost to blue-collar communities that I hope the new housing minister can get behind.”

Tom Copley, Labour’s housing spokesperson at the London Assembly, echoed the call for Government support.

Mr Copley said he supported scrapping Right to Buy restrictions – but the Government should go further, and remove the right to purchase council housing altogether.

He said: “We’ve lost 300,000 homes in London since the scheme was introduced and we have thousands of people in temporary accommodation, and a huge rise in homelessness. We just can’t afford to be losing anymore housing.”

Mr Copley also noted that four in ten homes purchased from London councils under Right to Buy are now privately rented – meaning that in some cases councils are renting back homes they originally owned to house tenants.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Providing quality and fair social housing is a top priority for the Government, which is why we’ve invested £4.8 billion to build more affordable properties in London and freed up local authorities to build more council homes.”