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 increase access to a) social b) private rented homes for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Our National Plan to End Homelessness will drive long-term sustainable change to address the root causes of homelessness, including housing availability and affordability.

In the Plan, the Government committed to reviewing statutory guidance on social housing allocations in England to ensure it supports wider social housing and homelessness objectives. Work is underway with stakeholders and we will publish updated guidance for consultation next year. In addition, we are legislating through the Social Housing Bill to enable councils to refer a homeless household to a private registered provider of social housing to be offered housing unless the private provider has a good reason not to do so. This is delivering on another commitment made in National Plan to End Homelessness. Finally, we have delivered the biggest boost to grant funding in recent memory through our new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme with a core objective to maximise supply, particularly of Social Rent homes.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026 and strengthens tenants’ rights. The Act ends unfair bidding wars, prevents landlords from demanding large amounts of rent in advance, and tackles rental discrimination. It also bans Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and provides stronger powers for tenants to challenge excessive rent hikes.