Social Rented Housing Sector

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Florence Eshalomi]

My hon. Friend, like many of us, is a proud advocate for ensuring that this Government honour their commitment to build new social homes. It is important that we look at the range of avenues available to house builders, councils and developers, and that the Government continue to fund them. My hon. Friend may be aware of the affordable homes programme prospectus, which opened just this month. The Government are asking councils, developers and housing associations to come forward with bids; we very much hope that a number of those bids will be for new, high-quality, family-sized social homes.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Chair and the Committee for their report; I declare an interest as the chair of the healthy homes and buildings all-party parliamentary group. Finding a way forward is critical. As a Northern Ireland MP, I see this issue every week. Given the importance of the recommendations and details that the hon. Lady and her Committee have set out, I ask that they be shared with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the major social housing provider in Northern Ireland, and with the housing associations. This is significant, and they need to know about it.

[Florence Eshalomi]

I always thank the hon. Member for his wonderful, timely interventions on many issues across the House. Conditions in homes have an impact on all constituency MPs across the UK: it is a big issue that we see weekly in our inboxes and our advice surgeries, so it is important that we share best practice and learning from other regions in the UK.