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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce homelessness after the covid-19 outbreak.

Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown period, according to returns from local authorities to MHCLG.

This is a truly remarkable achievement and to build on this considerable success, Dame Louise Casey will spearhead a Taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during this pandemic. The Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to the streets.

The?Secretary of State?has also announced?plans for thousands of long-term, safe homes?to support many of the?vulnerable rough sleepers who have been supported during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We are supporting those at wider risk of homelessness, with an injection of £6.5 billion into the welfare system. This includes increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that they are set at the 30th percentile of market rents.

The Government has also introduced a package of measures to protect renters affected by Covid-19. With these emergency measures in force, no renter in either social or private accommodation will be forced out of their home.