The Prime Minister visited the borough as the government announced its intention to build more homes.

Prime Minister Theresa May toured the Stonegrove estate in Edgware as she announced her "personal mission" to build more homes, in conjunction with the release of statistics which show the number of homes being built has steadily increased since 2010.

Mrs May was joined by Barnet Council leader Cllr Richard Cornelius and MP for Hendon Matthew Offord, as well as representatives from the Peabody housing association, who manage Stonegrove.

The Prime Minister commended Barnet Council for its record in building affordable homes and has said she hopes working together will lead to a better "diversity" of homes available to meet the needs of those looking to get a foot on to the ladder.

When asked about the controversial proposal for studio flats in Barnet House, which is allowed through permitted development rights, Mrs May said changes to this policy will help to allow for appropriate developments to be built.

She said: "There is a generation who fear they are going to be worse off than their parents and the changes we made mean more homes are being built but there are other things the government is doing to encourage them.

"£2 billion extra into affordable housing, £10 million into Help to Buy. This is a really important issue for us and we have seen more and more homes have been built than for almost a decade."

At the same time as Mrs May's visit, Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid was in Birmingham speaking about the government's plans, which also include setting a long term rent deal for local authorities, a white paper which will ensure councils release more land for housing and discussions with large and small developers.

Mr Javid said: "The generation crying out for help with housing is not over-entitled. They don’t want the world handed to them on a plate. They want simple fairness, moral justice, the opportunity to play by the same rules enjoyed by those who came before them.

"Without affordable, secure, safe housing we risk creating a rootless generation, drifting from one short-term tenancy to the next, never staying long enough to play a role in their community."

Leader of the Council Richard Cornelius, said the council will "play its part" in ensuring more houses are being built but is hoping that land currently owned by Transport for London may be released to help with this.

He said: "We will play our part but we need to see how we can do it. We are building 27,000 houses, which is a lot for a borough, and we do not have brown field sites left so we will have to be very imaginative."