WARRINGTON Borough Council (WBC) has been praised for its pioneering housing scheme – as new analysis shows Labour authorities have 'out-built' Tory councils by 50 per cent since 2010.

The authority has been hailed in a new report showcasing the 'innovative work' that Labour councils are doing on housing around the country.

Local Housing Innovations: The Best of Labour in Power profiles 20 Labour councils at the 'leading edge' in cutting homelessness, building new homes for first-time buyers, investing in energy efficient homes and delivering new council housing.

Warrington's project has been picked as one of 20 standout schemes from across the country by Labour's shadow housing secretary John Healey.

WBC was one of the first councils to launch a local authority mortgage scheme (LAMS) and is now looking to follow up its success with another.

New deputy council leader Cllr Russ Bowden, executive member for corporate finance, said: "Our LAMS scheme was a great boost to first-time buyers in Warrington who were previously struggling to get onto the housing ladder.

"The council provided a five-year underwriting of their mortgages, allowing them to secure their own homes on good loan terms with just a five per cent deposit.

"There have been no defaults, proving the merits of the scheme, which has also provided a modest income to the council while helping local residents to own their homes.

"We are looking now at similar schemes to follow the outstanding success of LAMS.

"This will benefit Warrington residents as we promote new housing development to support our strong economic growth and the concept of Warrington as a new city/garden city."

It comes as new analysis by the House of Commons Library revealed that Labour councils have 'out-built' Tory councils by an average of 1,000 new homes since 2010.

It shows that in Conservative-led local authority areas there were 1,679 new homes built on average between 2010 and 2016, while under Labour councils 2,577 were built on average – more than 50 per cent more homes.

Mr Healey said: "The approach of WBC shows that the Labour Party in power can make a real difference.

"After seven years of Tory failure on housing, from falling home-ownership to rising homelessness, Britain has a housing crisis and needs many more good homes.

"And while Tory Ministers talk about getting Britain building, their own local councils are lagging behind."

Conservative Warrington South parliamentary candidate David Mowat has responded to the criticism.

He said: "The previous Conservative-led Government and the current Government have been keen to give powers back to local authorities so that they can think innovatively to benefit their residents.

"There will be even more opportunities for local innovation when Warrington and Cheshire sign up to our devolution deal.

"Of course, schemes like this will only be viable in the future if our economy continues to prosper.

"That's why we need the strong, stable leadership of Prime Minister Theresa May to secure an economy that works for everyone."