Pride in Place

Steve Darling Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and welcome the core principle that she described: giving our communities the power to decide how to put money to best use. I am delighted that Torbay has been awarded two tranches of pride in place funding. However, it is a perverse badge of honour, because it demonstrates that we are the most deprived local authority in the south-west of England, the Conservatives having short-changed us. Another challenge in Torbay is the fact that social rented homes account for only 7% of our housing. Will the Minister reflect on how the whole Government can try to meet the desperate need for social housing in Torbay, which has less than half the national average?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I thank the hon. Member for raising the critical issue of housing. I am incredibly proud that this Government are putting record investment into social and affordable housing—£39 billion—because we absolutely recognise that if we are to tackle poverty and deprivation, we must get to the root cause of the housing crisis. We have to make sure that affordable housing is an absolutely right, so that people in our communities can afford a roof over their head. That should not be a distant dream for so many.