Conservatives promise fight over social housing and Housing Benefit cuts

The UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne have said that Housing Benefit is a key target for upcoming welfare cuts and that the UK must end its culture of social housing.

In an article for the Times detailing the thinking behind next week's summer Budget, the two politicians say they will "take on" those who oppose the Conservatives' planning permission reforms and the selling off of council houses.

The government is set to unveil plans to build 200,000 "starter homes" to be sold at discounted prices to first-time home owners under the age of 40.

It is also set to extend its "Right to Buy" scheme to 1.3 million housing association tenants.

"By helping people to own their own home, through Right to Buy, we can turn tenants into home owners and reduce housing benefit bills," Cameron and Osborne wrote in the Times, as reported by the BBC.

"And by selling off the most expensive council houses when they become vacant we can replace every home we sell – whether an expensive council house or one through Right to Buy."

Osborne will deliver his Budget to parliament on 8 July, less than four months after his previous Budget, which was delivered before the General Election in May.

The Budget will also detail cuts in the rate of Inheritance tax.

During the campaign for the general election, the Conservatives said they would cut the UK's benefits bill by £12bn. These cuts are widely expected to come from in-work benefits, such as tax credits, housing benefit and payments to help those with chronic illnesses and disabilities live independently and continue in work.

The Conservatives' social housing and right-to-buy programme has been heavily criticised by housing associations, the Confederation of British Industry and the blue chip property firms, which said the policies will not reduce the chronic housing shortage in the UK, or make properties more affordable for first-time buyers.