Oral Answers to Questions

Meg Hillier Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

14. What steps he is taking to support people out of temporary accommodation.

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

Our Labour Government will build the homes that Britain needs and put our country on a path to end homelessness for good, unlike the Tories, who—if people have not heard us say this already today—allowed homelessness and rough sleeping to double. We will publish the child poverty strategy and the homelessness strategy shortly, and both will set out steps to defend families against the risk of getting stuck in temporary accommodation.

[Alison McGovern]

That is a very important point: London is a fine city, but we need to ensure that everyone there is housed well. That is why the Labour Government are investing more than £1 billion in homelessness services this year—an increase of more than £300 million. That includes £10.9 million of top-up funding, announced last month, to increase access to support services in areas with the highest number of children in temporary accommodation, like the one mentioned by my hon. Friend. We have to get everybody in this country properly housed.

[Dame Meg Hillier]

As the Minister says, we do need that housing. There are some solutions locally, where Education or Health land has become available. Will she undertake to talk to those Department—I can talk to her in more detail about local issues—to ensure that that land can be released as soon as possible, with the prospect of it becoming social housing for local families?

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend is an expert in these matters. She knows that the Secretary of State has taken recent steps to make sure that we do build homes, including social and affordable homes, in London. We will certainly work very closely with her, and with the information she mentions, to get homes built.