Asked by: Calvin Bailey (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent homelessness for veterans as part of the (a) National Plan to End Homelessness and (b) Inter-Ministerial Group on homelessness, and how Op FORTITUDE interacts with the National Plan to End Homelessness.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is clear that one veteran rough sleeping is one too many. This Government is fully committed to ensuring that all veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. This programme, alongside Op FORTITUDE, will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
In December last year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published A National Plan to End Homelessness, the Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy and will continue to do so through its attendance at the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping. This includes ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness; and recognises the importance of veteran-specific support such as Op FORTITUDE, putting the service that has already supported over 1,100 veterans on a sustainable footing.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, further to the "Changing Futures Lived Experience Support Grant: prospectus", of 26 March 2026, what his Department's definition of lived experience is.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The definition of lived experience in reference to the Changing Futures programme is direct, personal experience of multiple disadvantage which includes combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, mental ill health, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to create a duty on housing associations to house homeless households.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the government’s National Plan to End Homelessness published on 11 December 2025, which can be found on gov.uk here, we expect social housing landlords to cooperate with councils in housing statutory homeless households and, where joint working is not operating effectively, we will consider levers to require social housing landlords to rehouse statutory homeless households referred by the council, including legislating if necessary.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a duty on housing associations to house homeless households.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the government’s National Plan to End Homelessness published on 11 December 2025, which can be found on gov.uk here, we expect social housing landlords to cooperate with councils in housing statutory homeless households and, where joint working is not operating effectively, we will consider levers to require social housing landlords to rehouse statutory homeless households referred by the council, including legislating if necessary.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of differences between local authorities in the qualification criteria used to determine access to social housing registers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department commissioned a Systems-wide Evaluation of Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, which explored Social Housing Allocations and the use of qualification criteria used to determine access to social housing registers. The report can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to use disused defence estate for the purposes of veterans' (a) rehabilitation and (b) accommodation to help tackle (i) veteran homelessness, (ii) barriers to accessing mental health support and (iii) access to employment support.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Ministry of Defence (MOD) land, that is surplus to Defence requirements, is disposed of in accordance with MOD Policy, which is mandated by HM Treasury guidelines, in order to achieve best value for the taxpayer.
This government is committed to ensuring that veterans and their families are easily able to access support on a wide range of issues, when and where it is needed. Late last year we launched a new Veterans Strategy which recognises veterans as a national asset and resets the nation’s relationship with those who have served.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that people experiencing homelessness are able to access social housing.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation, including through the new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme. As set out in our National Plan to End Homelessness, we will work with partners to update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households.
Where joint working is not operating effectively, we will consider levers to require social housing landlords to rehouse statutory homeless households referred by the council, including legislating if necessary.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help support young people who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.
Through our National Plan to End Homelessness we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness by building more homes, tackling poverty and reforming renters’ rights. We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to (a) understand and (b) tackle causes of youth homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.
Through our National Plan to End Homelessness we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness by building more homes, tackling poverty and reforming renters’ rights. We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local authorities to address youth homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.
Through our National Plan to End Homelessness we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness by building more homes, tackling poverty and reforming renters’ rights. We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.