Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national Supporting People programme.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Local authorities are best placed to decide how their funding is spent locally. The Government has a delivered a Settlement that begins to fix the foundations of local government by providing significant investment redirecting funding towards the services and places that need it most. The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of houses that will be built by the end of 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36228 on 14 March 2025.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are obligations on landlords in relation to the rent they charge if their property has been improved with a grant under the (a) Energy Company Obligation, (b) Boiler Upgrade Scheme and (c) Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Energy Company Obligation schemes do not place obligations on landlords in relation to the rent they charge if their property has been improved.
Currently, private landlords in England and Wales are eligible to apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with regulations setting out the full eligibility criteria. These do not place any requirements in relation to rent.
Warm Homes: local grant requires landlords to declare that they will not raise rents as a direct result of the upgrades being installed funded by government grants. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is monitoring the impact of this scheme including on rents and may make changes if needed.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help councils (a) re-establish Housing Revenue Accounts and (b) become the direct provider of new council homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
If a local authority has over 199 social and affordable homes, it must open a Housing Revenue Account (HRA), and we invite any council that is considering this to engage with the Department.
We know from our engagement with non-HRA holding councils, that many would like to increase their current levels of housing delivery, but that the cost of opening a HRA can make this difficult. That is why I have asked my officials to explore whether the current threshold is set at the right level, or if a different threshold would enable councils to reach a level of housing provision that would better enable them to meet the costs of opening and managing an HRA.
In 2023-24, councils delivered just over 8,950 affordable homes. We want to support all councils – both HRA holding and non-HRA holding – to boost their levels of direct delivery so that we can achieve the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We have begun this process through a series of measures designed to enhance councils’ capacity, capability, and confidence to build again at scale, as detailed in my answer to Question UIN 31737 on 27 February 2025.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department will take to ensure local authorities are adequately resourced to improve standards in the private rented sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Through the Renters’ Rights Bill, the government is strengthening local authorities’ enforcement powers and extending and increasing ring-fenced civil penalties to support a ‘polluter pays’ approach.
In accordance with the New Burdens Doctrine, we will ensure additional net costs on local authorities created by our reforms are fully funded.
We will continue to explore how best we can create a sustainable funding system for private rented sector enforcement over the long-term, including through fees.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of capacity to build new social housing at (a) pace and (b) scale.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply.
We have consulted on a new five-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.
We have also announced that councils will be allowed to keep 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales, so that they are better able to build and buy new homes.
We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Planning overhaul to reach 1.5 million new homes, published on 12 December 2024, what assessment her Department has made on the adequacy of capacity within the construction sector to deliver that target.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the need to expand and upskill the construction workforce to meet our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of delivering 1.5 million homes in this Parliament.
We are working with industry to boost skills and support employers. We have announced a £140 million package of industry investment that will deliver 5,000 more apprenticeship places as well as apprenticeship reforms that will enable up to 10,000 more apprentices to qualify per year, including in construction.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 24267 on Homelessness: Departmental Coordination, what assessment she has made of the merits of inviting DEFRA to the Department's Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across the key government departments with the greatest impact on homelessness to develop a long-term strategy, and an Expert Group bringing together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector. We continue to engage with DEFRA on measures as part of the development of our long-term housing strategy. We are also delivering a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.
Further information on the allocations of homelessness grant funding in the 2025/26 financial year can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-allocations-2025-to-2026
The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of addressing rural homelessness on preventing those who experience homelessness travelling to urban areas to seek support.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across the key government departments with the greatest impact on homelessness to develop a long-term strategy, and an Expert Group bringing together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector. We continue to engage with DEFRA on measures as part of the development of our long-term housing strategy. We are also delivering a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.
Further information on the allocations of homelessness grant funding in the 2025/26 financial year can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-allocations-2025-to-2026
The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to create a dedicated Youth Chapter in its Homelessness Strategy to address the specific needs of young people facing homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across the key government departments with the greatest impact on homelessness to develop a long-term strategy, and an Expert Group bringing together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector. We continue to engage with DEFRA on measures as part of the development of our long-term housing strategy. We are also delivering a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.
Further information on the allocations of homelessness grant funding in the 2025/26 financial year can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-allocations-2025-to-2026
The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.