The number of new social housing lets in Carlisle has fallen by a fifth over the last decade, new figures show.

Homelessness and housing charity Crisis accused the Government of "political negligence", and questioned how many more "shameful records" it needs to hit before it tackles the sheer lack of housing.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank said there is a "desperate need to build more homes", especially affordable social housing.

Housing Minister Michael Gove aims to implement a “British homes for British workers” policy, which will require people to provide a decade-long link to the UK and a two-year connection to the local area where the social housing they want is.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show 739 new social housing lets were offered to tenants in Carlisle in 2022-23.

This was down from 807 in 2021-22 and means the number of new social lets provided has fallen by 21 per cent over the last decade.

Across England, the number of new social housing lets provided fell by 6 per cent from 267,000 to 252,000 – the lowest point in the past decade excluding 2020-21.

This covers all social housing, which is split into affordable or intermediate rent, and social rent. The former means a tenant pays 80 per cent of market value, while the latter is set by the Government, is paid to registered providers and local authorities, and is significantly lower than the private market.

Carlisle and the surrounding area has been at the heart of a large scale house building projects but they have failed to keep up with the demand for social housing in the area.

More than 10,000 new homes are set to be built as part of the major St Cuthbert’s Garden Village project but that will not include social housing.

Luke Murphy, associate director at the IPPR, said the Government must invest and reform the planning system and the "dysfunctional land market" to tackle the housing crisis.

Meanwhile, the number of new social rents across England – those that are the most affordable – has also plummeted across the last decade.

It dropped by 7 per cent to 209,000 in 2022-23 and is now 40 per cent lower than 10 years ago.

In Carlisle, this figure rose during the same period, with 649 provided last year.

A DLUHC spokesperson said: "We’ve delivered over 696,000 affordable homes since 2010, including 172,000 for social rent, and last year saw the highest levels of housing delivery on record with a 17% increase in starts to the previous year.

"However, we know we need to build more affordable homes, which is why we’re investing £11.5 billion to deliver more of the affordable, quality homes this country needs."