National Plan to End Homelessness

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming the strategy and for joining the cross-party support for our objectives. It is important that we make it clear where we have agreement across the parties. I join him in welcoming the important work of the Shared Health Foundation.

On his final question, there are exemptions to the shared accommodation rate, and I would encourage him to have a look at that part of the strategy. On the local housing allowance, as I said in response to my hon. Friend the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee a moment ago, it is important that family incomes improve, which is why we took the steps we did in the child poverty strategy. I spoke about the Vagrancy Act in my response to the shadow Minister, but I will happily also send the hon. Gentleman the details about the steps that we are taking.

The hon. Gentleman also mentions the need to increase social housing, and I would recommend to him the detail on this published by the Minister for Housing, my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook). I do not think any of us should have a cap on our ambition for building social and affordable homes, and I encourage all parts of the country to get on with spending the investment the Chancellor has allocated so that we can put a roof over people’s heads.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I welcome this strategy and pay tribute to the Minister and her predecessors for the work that has gone into it. I also pay tribute to the Banbury Youth Homeless Project in my constituency, which does great work with young people affected by homelessness, and extend an invitation to the Minister to come and visit the organisation at some point. One feature of the current housing crisis is that temporary accommodation is often anything but. The Minister has reiterated the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes during the course of this Parliament, but I would be grateful if she could provide some detail on how the Government plan to accelerate the delivery of homes, particularly in areas like mine, where infrastructure issues are frequently a barrier to the delivery of much-needed affordable homes.

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend knows that I am a fan of Banbury. I am hoping to get there before too long, and would be most grateful to meet that organisation; it sounds like it is doing sterling work, and I am grateful to them for it. It is true, as he says, that temporary accommodation is often anything but. The distinction we are trying to draw in the strategy is one of quality. While good-quality temporary accommodation often cannot help a family get back on the road to stability, we do see some really poor-quality temporary accommodation. To give people a long-term home where they can set down roots, as Members will know, our Planning and Infra- structure Bill has been proceeding through Parliament. That legislation will allow us to speed up the delivery of all housing, including the social housing we so desperately need.