More than 70,000 social and affordable homes to be built across England as part of £39bn plan

Ministers have announced where 70,000 social and affordable homes will be built in England over the next 10 years, in a bid to address the housing crisis.

Funding has been granted to Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North East England, and Liverpool, as well as £6bn for London.

It is the first part of a wider plan to build 300,000 social and affordable homes across the nation, under the government's £39bn social housebuilding programme.

Housing charities welcomed the news but said it was still not enough to meet demand, while the Conservatives said it was an "unfunded spending commitment".

Of the new homes announced on Monday, 60% would be for social rent - which means the cost of the unit is about half that of market rents and there are strict criteria for who can apply for it.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "No child should be raised in a hostel room and no family should wait 10 years for a front door of their own. I have said from my first day in this job that everything starts with a good home."

Under Labour, homeless figures have continued to rise to record levels.

Data released earlier this month suggested 177,530 children were homeless in temporary accommodation.

Natasha, who has been living in a hotel in Milton Keynes for the last four months with her son Zayd, is one of those waiting for a permanent home.

The 22-year-old spent the final months of her pregnancy and the first weeks of her son's life living in a hotel.

She says she has no idea how long she will be expected to stay there but was told it would only be temporary.

"I'm just scared when he gets older, when he starts crawling around, I can't even allow him to crawl in such a place like that because it's so dirty," she says.

While pregnant, Natasha says her room became infested with ants, which she repeatedly reported before eventually being moved into another room.

While Natasha has her own bathroom, she shares a kitchen with around 60 other residents. She says the hotel is home to a mix of people, not just mothers and babies, and that she does not always feel safe using the shared space with Zayd.