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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the availability of temporary accommodation for local authorities.

Statutory Homelessness Guidance sets out the steps that local authorities must follow in providing quality and suitable temporary accommodation (TA) to individuals and families. Local authorities must ensure TA is suitable and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities should, as a minimum, ensure that all TA is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

The Local Authority Housing Fund enables councils in England to buy or build housing stock to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. We recently announced a third round of funding, bringing the total funding to £1.2 billion.

We are pursuing a number of housing reforms – including reviewing the Decent Homes Standard, the Social Housing Regulation Act and Renters (Reform) Bill - which will increase quality and regulation across all housing stock, including temporary accommodation.