There is a fund of £20 million that Swindon Borough Council might use to buy houses in order to increase the number of homes for rent in the borough, councillors learned this week.

At the latest meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny meeting, the cabinet member for housing, Councillor Janine Howarth, was in the spotlight, presenting her report on her department’s activity.

Asked by the chairman of the committee Councillor Dale Heenan about the prospects of the council buying more properties, Cllr Howarth was reluctant to give many details.

She said: “I can’t say much in front of the press – the business cases for this haven’t gone to cabinet or been approved.”

The council’s director of housing Mike Ash was a little more forthcoming when Cllr Heenan said that this was an open meeting where councillors were entitled to ask questions, and asked what sort of funds might be available.

Mr Ash said: “We are looking at 11 schemes to add to the development programme and the figure of funds is £20m, there or thereabouts.

“The business cases will be included in a report to cabinet for approval.”

Cllr Howarth reaffirmed the new Labour administration’s commitment to increasing the social housing stock for rent by 1,000 homes over the next five years.

She said: ”The funding will be a mixture of the Housing Revenue Account, Capital spending and money from housing associations.

“And maybe a new government, if it’s Labour, will be putting more money into social housing.”

Cllr Heenan asked Cllr Howarth whether she had done any lobbying of government, or other sources of funding, to bring more money into the council to expand its stock of social housing.

Cllr Howarth said she hadn’t because she saw little point in lobbying the current government which showed no interest in doing that.

The Labour group first made a commitment to building, or acquiring, 1,000 more council houses and flats in when in opposition in 2019.

Councillor Carole Shelley asked about a survey of 500 council houses and flats to see whether they met the government’s Decent Homes standard.

Mr Ash said: “The 500 we surveyed was a decent representative sample, with 95 per cent meeting the standard. Most of those that don’t are because of a lack of loft insulation.”

Mr Ash said many of the homes surveyed were flats built “using non-traditional standards” so it was pleasing that 95 per cent of those were meeting the Decent Home standard.