Social Rented Housing Sector

Debate between Florence Eshalomi and Bell Ribeiro-Addy

Thursday 12th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Florence Eshalomi]

I always thank the hon. Member for his wonderful, timely interventions on many issues across the House. Conditions in homes have an impact on all constituency MPs across the UK: it is a big issue that we see weekly in our inboxes and our advice surgeries, so it is important that we share best practice and learning from other regions in the UK.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for her excellent report. Does she agree that housing associations sometimes try to get the heat taken off them by employing managing agents? When constituents approach them for repairs and so on, they are often sent back from one to the other. I have had particular incidents at the Darcus Howe apartments on Brixton Hill, where Notting Hill Genesis, which is the housing association, and Crabtree keep shirking the responsibility for providing some vital changes. For example, people could not get heating between November and January, the coldest months. Does my hon. Friend think that more should be done? Perhaps we should be better able to hold people criminally liable for the situations in which they put our constituents.

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank my constituency neighbour for highlighting just one of the many examples that Members across the Chamber will have seen in their inboxes. We need to recognise how some housing associations that receive Government grants to build homes are treating their tenants. It is important to direct residents to the Regulator of Social Housing and other avenues. I hope that the management issue will come up in the forthcoming commonhold and leasehold legislation.

Children in Temporary Accommodation: England

Debate between Florence Eshalomi and Bell Ribeiro-Addy

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank my hon. Friend for his points, and I again commend him on the work he has done in this area, which I have heard him speak on in the Chamber. It is important that we recognise that the long-term ambition is to build those genuinely affordable homes, but in the interim, it is about how we work to address this important issue. One way is ensuring that this issue does not just sit with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It has to be an inter-Department agenda and focus. That is why we welcome the Government’s cross-departmental ministerial team looking at this, because the issues are not confined to MHCLG, but are about education and health, too. It is important that the Departments continue to talk, and that is one thing we will feed back as we get responses from the Government.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend and her Committee on this crucial report. As my constituency neighbour, she knows how much this is an issue within our borough, and I am sure she would agree that the end to no-fault evictions in the Renters’ Reform Bill will be a positive step towards ending the number of families who are evicted with no cause and forced into emergency and temporary accommodation. Our hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) just spoke about extortionate and unregulated rent increases in the private sector forcing families into temporary accommodation. Does the Chair agree that the Government should be looking at regulating private rents—essentially rent controls—so that they are affordable for the average family?

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank my neighbour and hon. Friend. This issue sadly affects our borough of Lambeth. In the past year, the data shows that average rents have increased by 9%, and we know that many families’ incomes have not increased by that rate. We need to look at how we get to grips with the private rented sector. As I have said, the reality is that we cannot build these homes tomorrow, so more people will continue to rent. It is about working with local councils, housing associations and other organisations to make sure that the rents being charged are fair. Most importantly, we must ensure that conditions in properties are being addressed. We are seeing a situation where more than £2.29 billion is being spent on accommodation. That is frankly unreasonable, and that is where we need to get to grips with what is happening.