Affordable Housing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement of 30 July 2024 on Building the Homes We Need, HCWS48, what steps she plans to take to provide new build affordable housing through social rent; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a rise in the number of social rent homes on the availability of affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
Between 2013 and 2023, the number of Social Rent homes owned by registered providers of social housing fell by over 205,000. The Government’s aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather than falling. We have therefore asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding.
My department published an update on targets in the 2021-26 Programme on 30 July 2024. We have also proposed a number of changes to national planning policy that are designed to support the delivery of Social Rent homes. We will bring forward details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review.
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