Housing is being ignored by some local councils, the Audit Commission has warned.

A report released today outlines how councils which have transferred their property stock to housing associations subsequently often "neglect their responsibilities" for housing policy.

The report, "Housing after transfer: The local authority role", argues that local authorities maintain an important housing role to play after their stock has been transferred.

More planning needs to be given to how councils meet their ongoing responsibilities, such as housing strategy and homelessness, the commission says.

The watchdog, which assesses how efficiently public money is spent, releases its report ahead of taking on responsibility for auditing housing associations in the new year.

The strong message to local authorities in the report is that councils will still be held accountable for housing and should not see the creation of a housing association as a lessening of their workload.

Commission controller Sir Andrew Foster said that: "In the run-up to stock transfer, councils tend to invest a great deal of their energies in planning the new housing association and thinking about the council's ongoing housing role can often fall by the wayside.

"In fact, councils should view stock transfer as a beginning, not an end. With careful planning and clear priorities, councils can use this as an opportunity to tackle key local issues and have a major impact on people's quality of life in their communities."