Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Rachael Maskell and Brandon Lewis
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)
15. What steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes for social rent.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
Since 2010 we have delivered 270,000 affordable homes, including about 200,000 rental homes, and the spending review committed £1.6 billion to the delivery of 160,000 further affordable homes.
Rachael Maskell
Let me ask the Minister a specific question about new-build social housing. My local authority and housing associations say that, because they cannot afford to develop social housing on Network Rail and council land—public land—they will develop up to 2,500 high-value units. However, we have a serious social housing crisis. How will the Minister ensure that councils and housing associations can afford to build homes for social rent to match local needs?
Brandon Lewis
If the hon. Lady compares what was done between 1997 and 2010 with our record, she will see that the number of council social homes being built roughly doubled under a Conservative-led Government. We are building social homes at the fastest rate for about 20 years. Housing associations had a £2.4 billion surplus last year, and local authorities have over £3 billion of headroom. We are working with them, and encouraging them to use their money to build the homes that we want to be built so that we can deliver more homes than the last Government left us.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Rachael Maskell and Brandon Lewis(8 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Brandon Lewis
Yes, the hon. Gentleman outlines a good example of where everybody could work together in the best interests of the community and to see more housing built, and I am happy to organise that meeting. I will make sure I have that conversation with him and the local authority.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
York desperately needs family and social housing, yet the council plans to build predominantly high-value units on the 72 hectare “York Central” brownfield site, which will go no way to addressing our housing crisis. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the principle of York First and putting the interests of the city ahead of asset housing?
Brandon Lewis
As the hon. Lady will appreciate, it is absolutely right that local communities can make local decisions about what is right for them and that her local authority can look at its local housing need and make a decision about what is right for it, as it is looking to do in York.