Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help reduce the annual cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities.

The government is committed to helping councils reduce temporary accommodation costs by investing in good-quality, more affordable provision, including through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. Through the £30 million Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme, we are also tackling poor value and supporting more efficient use of existing stock.

As outlined in the National Plan to End Homelessness, we are continuing to explore further options to support councils to access good-quality temporary accommodation, including partnerships with social impact and institutional investors to draw on private finance and support from the National Housing Bank.

We are also working closely with DWP and HMT on the Value for Money Review for homelessness. For further details, please see the published terms of reference available here. The findings will inform decisions for future policy development.