In his first major speech as a prime minister candidate, Burnham argued the need to “take power out of the centre” in a decentralised Britain.

This would benefit several areas of the British economy, including housing.

Burnham stressed how it was important to repair public housing stock, and promised the biggest push in council house building since the post-war period.

This would be overseen by Number 10 North, a Manchester-based secondary hub for the national government — another key pledge from Burnham.

“Britain has lost almost 1.5 million council homes since the 1980s and around the same number of people are now on housing waiting lists and have been there for a very long time,” said Burnham.

“Britain’s housing crisis is having a ruinous impact on its public finances.

“So, working with local areas, No 10 North will oversee the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period.”

A Burnham-led government will use “public land, vacant public land” to reduce costs.

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He added: “Having this focus on council homes again, on having them in all parts of the country it will represent a decisive shift to a more preventative and productive state, adopting a national Housing First philosophy as has been pioneered so successfully in Finland.”

Giving greater control to local authorities has been welcomed by some in the property industry.

Paul Rickard, CEO at Pocket Living, said such an approach was part of the “bold thinking we need to see happen.”

“It is very pleasing to see housing being directly linked to the success of the UK’s overall economic strategy,” said Paul, who welcomed the support for private sector involvement.

“While the aspiration to super charge council housing is admirable, alongside this we also need to deliver homes for key workers and young professionals if our regions are to truly prosper and SMEs play an instrumental role in delivering local housing for local people and local place-based success.”

Vanessa Hale, CEO at Real Estate:UK, said a “stable and supportive policy framework” under Burnham could deliver these goals but argued a more “radical” approach would be needed between the public and private sector.

Vanessa added that this includes: “full recognition of the challenges that the real estate industry faces, such as the viability crisis which has effectively stalled building activity across the country, that enhanced local and regional authorities need the extra resourcing to match the scale of their ambition, and an understanding that the need for stability is paramount for those seeking to make long-term investment into the UK.”