Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what processes his Department has in place to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate average levels of private rented sector rents in England; and what recent assessment his Department has made of the affordability of average private sector rents for low to middle income households.
The Department continues to monitor key sources of data including the Office for National Statistics' Index of Private Housing Rental Prices.
The most recent English Housing Survey found that over two thirds (71%) of private renters in the lower two income quintiles spent 30% or more of their income on rent in 2021-21.