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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of pre-tenancy checks by housing associations on the ability of households experiencing or at risk of homelessness to access social housing.

The government has already taken action to remove barriers for those most in need to access social housing including exempting care leavers under 25 years old and victims of domestic abuse from local connection tests.

Local housing authorities and landlords may carry out pre-tenancy and affordability checks when considering a person's application for social housing and these can play an important role in ensuring that a tenancy is sustainable. We do, however, expect local authorities and landlords to show consideration for individual circumstances when considering these.

The government has made clear that it intends to review and update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households. As part of that process, we will also consider ways that local authorities and landlords can work more cooperatively on these issues, including those at risk of homelessness.

My Department does not collect data to enable us to assess the number of households being denied social homes due to affordability checks.