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 (a) prevent, and (b) provide support for annual rent increases for shared ownership leaseholders, in the context of the cost of living crisis.

The Government is aware of the potential for large nominal-terms rent increases for Shared Ownership leaseholders in 2023-24. Shared Ownership rents are permitted to increase by a maximum of the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 0.5% per year, using the RPI figure for a specified month. As RPI plus 0.5% is the permitted maximum Shared Ownership rents can increase by per year, social housing providers have the flexibility to set increases below this level. The Government strongly encourages social housing providers to make use of this flexibility, and we know that many are carefully considering their options in response to cost-of-living concerns.