Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to support London fringe local authorities by introducing a cap to incentive payments to landlords in those authority areas in line with the pan-London Local Authority Agreement as agreed by the London Boroughs.

The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping.

The London Collaboration Project initiated the creation of a local authority owned, not for profit, company named Capital Letters that will both procure and manage properties in the private rented sector across London.

It was set up with the support of £37.8 million of Government funding. It aims to become the main source of private rented sector accommodation to prevent and relieve homelessness in London.

It aims to increase efficiency, reduce competition between boroughs, increase market reach and market power, and allow many more homeless households to be accommodated in, or close to, their home borough.

Capital Letters will improve the supply of homes, reduce the costs to local authorities, and achieve better outcomes for homeless families. It will do this through centralised procurement and be assisted by £37.8 million Government funding to procure around 21,000 additional tenancies.

As part of the Rough Sleeping Strategy 2018, we announced an additional £20 million to fund existing or new local authority schemes that support both families and individuals in accessing or sustaining PRS tenancies.

The schemes range from an innovative transitional insurance policy to providing incentives to landlords to offer longer term tenancies.