Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the report by Zoopla that the number of homes available to rent in the UK has fallen by a third over the past 18 months; and what steps they are taking to deal with the declining availability of rental properties.

The Government recognises that demand is currently outstripping the supply of properties available to let. The reasons for this are difficult to disentangle, but we believe it is due to a mixture of demographic changes, including domestic and international migration, and pent-up demand following the pandemic.

The number of rented properties has doubled since 2004 – peaking in 2016 and remaining roughly stable since.

We are driving up the supply of new homes by diversifying the market, investing in affordable housing, and increasing land supply for new homes by investing in infrastructure. We also remain committed to continue working towards our ambition of delivering 300,000 homes per year to help create a more sustainable and affordable housing market.