UK housing
House building has picked up in the UK, but the supply growth in the housing market still falls well short of spiraling demand Reuters

The government has approved funding for 11 councils across the UK to help invest in 3,000 new homes under the 'Right to Build' scheme.

In a bid to tackle Britain's property shortage, Conservative housing minister confirmed that the 1,000 self-build plots and 2,000 custom-build homes across 11 local authorities will be given hundreds of thousands of pounds to get the projects going.

"We're determined to help anyone who aspires to own their own home - whether that's buying on the open market through schemes like our Help to Buy, or to build," said Brandon Lewis.

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"This is one of a range of measures we're taking to help aspiring homeowners, but also to get Britain building - and thanks to our efforts, housebuilding levels are at their highest since 2007 and rising."

The 11 local authorities given the government's green light are Cherwell, South Cambridgeshire, Teignbridge, Shropshire, Oldham, West Lindsey, Pendle, Sheffield, South Norfolk, Stoke-on-Trent and the Exmoor and Dartmoor National Park Authorities.

The scheme was announced earlier this year by UK chancellor George Osborne. However, Britain's main opposition party says it does not go far enough to tackle the country's housing problem.

"Only Labour will make the fundamental changes to the market which are urgently needed by getting at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020 and doubling the number of first-time buyers in the next 10 years," said Labour's Shadow Housing Minister Emma Reynolds.

Meanwhile, lobby groups have welcomed the government's move but warns it won't make a huge difference to the overall market.

"We've got an acute housing crisis that's going to need numerous solutions," said Steve Turner, from the Home Builders Federation.

"Whilst it's not going to put a huge dent in the overall supply of houses it's positive nonetheless."