Responding to the analysis, Cllr Martin Tett, Housing spokesman at the Local Government Association, said:
“These figures show that our national housing shortage remains one of the most pressing issues we face.
“The last time the country built more than 250,000 homes in a year, in the 1970s, councils built around 40 per cent of them.
“By recently lifting the cap on councils being able to borrow to invest in new and existing housing, the Government showed it had heard our argument that councils must be part of the solution to our chronic housing shortage and able to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes. Councils now need to be able to keep 100 per cent of Right to Buy receipts and set discounts locally to ensure they can replace any homes sold.
“A genuine renaissance in council housebuilding is the only way to boost housing supply, help families struggling to meet housing costs, provide homes to rent, reduce homelessness and tackle the housing waiting lists many councils have.”