Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 2025-06-24

Welcomes the Department's ambitions to address housing shortages but raises concerns about funding. Highlights the need for affordable homes, social rent homes, and support for local authorities facing financial distress. Questions include clarity on annual funding allocations, publication of long-term housing strategy, and discussions with Homes England.

Supports the need to address affordable housing issues, specifically mentioning care leavers' challenges in obtaining housing. Asks Florence Eshalomi for her views on including support for care leavers in the housing strategy.

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Expressed concerns about the lack of detail in Government estimates regarding social and affordable housing investment. Called for transparency on regional allocation of local authority housing funds. Criticised the impact of planning policies on towns like Walsall, highlighting issues with funding for brownfield remediation.

Welcomed the Government's consultation on fair funding review 2.0 and highlighted the additional costs faced by rural constituencies due to their demographics and geography. Emphasised the importance of fairer funding for rurality.

Welcomed Government's ambition in social housing but criticised lack of commitment to make 150,000 social homes available annually. Urged early announcement on local government financial settlement for better planning and requested guidance on future funding for high needs blocks.

Welcomed Chancellor's confirmation of £39 billion investment but highlighted the need to build more social rent homes annually. Acknowledged Liverpool city council's housing strategy and local campaigns against unjustifiable rent hikes, calling for swift implementation of funding redistribution.

Critiqued Labour's policies as anti-growth. Noted that additional funding to local government resources grants is offset by increased employer national insurance, impacting businesses and key sectors.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the problem with the Government’s housing policy is that they are failing to identify the right places to build the right homes? Until they do that, they will not deliver these eyewatering numbers, especially if they are relying on greenfield rural sites.

We are fortunate that the Minister has a background in local government, so he understands those pressures. I look forward to further clarification on grey belt and building on brownfield first, which every constituency MP wishes to see, but it is not yet transposed on to local plans and the growth ambitions of this Government.

The once-in-a-generation increase in funding for social housing will mean that, finally, the dial will start to move. The extra funding will fix the problem with section 106 contributions and move us closer to the 1.5 million target. I urge the Government to go as far and as fast as possible with planning reform to ensure effective spending.

I welcome the target for new homes but urge the Government to make affordability central to their plans. The decision by the Conservatives to scrap home installation policies have had a real cost, and an estimated 1.6 million homes have been built with lower energy efficiency and higher bills as a result—a Conservative legacy.

I welcome the record investment in housing but remain deeply disappointed that my council sold off its housing stock 26 years ago. Through its own development company, it has built 126 homes on three sites and has not supplied a single affordable home on any of those sites.

Commended the Chair of the Select Committee, Florence Eshalomi, for her approach to leading the committee. Highlighted the rise in the number of children with special educational needs and the inadequate funding for Hertfordshire. Raised concerns about local government reorganisation, suggesting it will lead to higher taxes without solving funding issues.

Acknowledged the financial investment in social housing as a positive step towards building affordable homes at scale. Criticised previous government's record on building social rent homes, and highlighted the demand for such homes compared to other tenure types.

Expressed disappointment over the Chancellor’s spending review statement regarding local authority funding. Raised concerns about 25 councils potentially issuing section 114 notices and urged for reforms in council tax system, early social care reform, and proper funding solution for special educational needs.

Acknowledged the government's investment in housing as welcome but emphasised that there are no quick fixes. Highlighted the numbers of families on social housing waiting lists and people in temporary accommodation.

Called for equal access to the Building Safety Fund for housing associations and urged the Government to support the Building Safety Regulator effectively without compromising on building safety or housing targets. Suggested that local government funding should use accurate, up-to-date data reflecting real needs.

Supported the sentiment and ambition of the Government’s announcement but urged for flexibility in meeting housing targets based on need rather than rigid adherence to set targets. Highlighted issues with speculative land development in Cornwall and suggested that planning applicants should demonstrate how they meet local needs.

Welcomed the Government’s £39 billion investment but called for faster action to reduce homelessness, suggesting Shelter's proposal of spending two-thirds of funding in the first five years. Emphasised the need for social rent homes and proposed a windfall tax on housing developers.

Stressed the importance of creating millions more good jobs beyond construction to ensure everyone can earn a decent living. Welcomed the £500 million investment in affordable house building and the future funding for housing, but called for a broader approach including healthcare, childcare, and social care.

Expressed concerns about the complexity of local government funding and highlighted the decade-long hollowing-out of local government funding. Urged the Government to review their proposal for central funding before it creates new problems.

The speaker discusses the impact of increased national insurance contributions on independent social care providers, urging the Minister to review the impact. She calls for a social care workforce plan and higher carer’s minimum wage. The funding formula for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is inconsistent, with some schools not getting enough annual base funding per pupil.

The speaker acknowledges the wide-ranging debate on local government finance and commends his colleagues for their contributions. He discusses the challenges faced by local authorities due to budget cuts, rising inflation, and deteriorating economic conditions, leading to significant cost pressures on councils.

The debate focuses on the significant impact of local government funding cuts, particularly highlighting specific examples such as Shropshire losing £8.8 million in rural services delivery grant, South Holland, West Lindsey, and Staffordshire Moorlands facing a 40% cut in their funding needs assessment, East Cambridgeshire district council seeing a cut of £125,000 annually, Fylde district council not receiving the announced increase, and Harlow experiencing a 25% reduction in revenue support grant. The speaker emphasises that local councils need better transparency from the Government regarding underlying funding assumptions to help constituents understand future impacts on their budgets.

The Minister responds by thanking members of the Select Committee and highlighting the significant interest in the Department's work. He outlines the Chancellor’s steps to stabilise the country's finances, back growth, and rebuild regions across the country. The Minister emphasises the new investment rule that has freed up £113 billion for schools, hospitals, roads, green energy, and housing over five years. The Government aims to address concerns raised by increasing funding for affordable homes, building remediation, homelessness support, and local authority housing funds.

The Minister highlights that the Government has increased the budget for the affordable homes programme by £400 million this year and announced a new 10-year affordable homes programme with £39 billion of new investment, alongside a 10-year rent settlement and £2.5 billion in low-interest loans for social housing providers.

The Minister affirms that the Government is making record investments into the homelessness system this year, including a £233 million uplift that will take homelessness funding to over £1 billion in 2025-26. He also mentions increased funding for the local authority housing fund by £100 million this year.

The Minister acknowledges that remote areas face cost pressures due to remoteness, as highlighted by Daniel Francis. The fair funding review 2.0 consultation aims to take into account the real cost pressures being felt in key areas.

The Minister notes that the cost of labour in areas will also be taken into account as part of the fair funding review 2.0 consultation.

Outlined key areas where the Government are making big changes.

Emphasised pressing the Government on key areas, citing concerns about councils declaring bankruptcy and section 114 notices being issued. Raised issues related to young people losing their life due to poor temporary accommodation.