Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Building Social and Affordable Homes

Monday 14 July 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions on Building Social and Affordable Homes were held on 2025-07-14
  • John Slinger asked about Rugby borough council's efforts to include affordable and social housing in new developments
  • Ellie Chowns questioned the Government's decision not to set a target for social housing provision

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 John Slinger Lab Rugby
Housing
Context

The MP noted the efforts of planning authorities such as Rugby borough council in working with housing developers to build more affordable and social housing. He highlighted that this process is often challenging and time-consuming.

Question

Planning authorities such as Rugby borough council are working hard to ensure that new housing developments contain as much affordable and social housing as possible. They work in partnership with housing developers, Government bodies such as Homes England, and others to that end, though it is not always an easy process and it often takes far too long. Will my right hon. Friend outline how the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will enhance their work, so that we can build as many high-quality affordable and social homes as possible and ensure that more people, particularly young people, get the homes they deserve?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unlock a new scale of housing and infrastructure delivery across all tenures to help build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament. We are also taking action in the Bill to improve local decision making by modernising planning committees and ensuring that planning departments are well resourced by allowing local planning authorities to set their own planning fees.

Answered
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Q2 Ellie Chowns Green North Herefordshire
Housing
Context

The MP questioned the government's decision not to set a target for the provision of social housing despite welcoming the investment in the social and affordable homes programme.

Question

Will the Deputy Prime Minister please explain why her Government will not set a target for the provision of social housing? While I welcome the investment in the social and affordable homes programme that she set out, the reality is that it will meet only 10% of the total number of new homes anticipated and only 10% of the current demand for social housing. If she believes that setting national targets like the 1.5 million homes target is important to drive change, why will she not set a target for social housing?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)

The Government have not set an affordable housing target to date, but we continue to keep the matter under review. Accurately trying to forecast long-term delivery is inherently challenging, but we believe that our new social and affordable homes programme could deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes over its lifetime, with around 180,000 for social rent. The measures we have taken, alongside the commitment for rent so that there is this long-term programme, will hopefully help with the supply, and I have made it categorically clear to the sector that we want more social rent housing.

Partly answered

Not addressed: specific target setting not addressed in detail

How: We Continue To Keep The Matter Under Review

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