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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the criteria and decision-making framework used by the National Housing Bank to assess applications for funding, and how they will ensure transparency in the allocation of public investment.

I refer the noble Lady to the Written Statement UIN HCWS712 which sets out that the National Housing Bank will be established as a new subsidiary under Homes England because we believe this is a good first step to ensure strategic coherence in our housing investment activities to deliver our ambitions, and build on its impressive track record.

The investment criteria and detailed investment strategy for the Bank – which will form a key part of Homes England’s overall strategy – will be jointly agreed by my Department, Homes England and HM Treasury and will be published in due course. Furthermore, we have already committed to providing the National Housing Bank with £2.5 billion to issue low interest loans to housing associations to deliver social housing, which means the homes built through this intervention will be genuinely affordable. We will share further details on operational costs and investment profile of the National Housing Bank and the number of additional homes it is estimated to deliver in due course.