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 Answers of (a) 14 October 2024 to Question 6386 and (b) 9 September 2024 to Question 2997 on Affordable Housing, what estimate he has made of the aggregate change in the number of new units in the 2021-26 programme, in the context of her decision to prioritise social rent tenure over other tenure types.

As per my response to Question UIN 2997 on 9 September 2024, in July we confirmed that the previous government had agreed, but had chosen not to publish, a reduction in the 2021-26 programme's delivery targets from “up to 180,000 homes should economic conditions allow” to between 110,000-130,000. Those revised targets included a goal to achieve at least 40,000 social rent homes.

At that time, we asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to prioritise the very limited remaining programme funding towards homes for social rent.

We have also asked that the £500 million additional funding announced at Budget is prioritised on social rent homes, and we will keep Parliament updated on delivery.