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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to cut social housing rents on the maintenance of existing council housing stock and the number of new council houses likely to be built in the short, medium, and long term.

We made a commitment in the Summer Budget to reduce social rents in England by one per cent a year for four years from April 2016. This will help protect tenants from rising housing costs whilst protecting taxpayers from the rising costs of subsidising rents through housing benefit. We are confident that local authorities and private registered providers will be able to find and make efficiencies to accommodate the new rent settlement while meeting their Decent Homes responsibilities. The Government remains committed to delivering 275,000 affordable homes over the course of this Parliament.