Social Housing Bill [Lords]

Alex McIntyre Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Bacon]

I agree with the hon. Lady that building more social homes is part of the answer, but I will address the central point of her question a bit later in my speech.

Right to buy is not the reason for the diminishing available social housing, nor the reason for our current shortage of social housing. Indeed, as my noble friend Lord Jamieson pointed out in the other place, the Government’s own impact assessment shows that in 2026-27, the pre-November 2024 baseline was 8,050 right-to-buy sales leading to 5,450 replacement homes. The document goes on to show that if this Bill were to pass and the legacy impacts wind down in the period 2031 to 2035, annual right-to-buy sales would fall to around 1,100 a year, with around 1,450 replacement homes. That means that by their own analysis and admission, the Government would oversee a housing system in which there would be 4,000 fewer new social homes funded every year.

[Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) (Lab)]

While we are talking about statistics, between April 2012 and March 2024 there were over 124,000 right-to-buy sales and fewer than 48,000 homes built to replace them. Which party was in charge during that period? [Interruption.]

[Gareth Bacon]

The point I am making, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) says from a sedentary position behind me, is that there will be even fewer new social homes under this Bill. It is not the answer to the problem.

The Government’s own data is not the only data available that disproves the justification for restricting right to buy. The Government have argued that the Bill will mean that around 3,000 additional homes are retained a year, but research conducted by the House of Lords Library shows that only a net 3% of social homes become available each year to new tenancies. That means that about 90 additional homes will be available for a new tenant every year, instead of 5,000.

The very premise that right to buy is taking homes away is a fallacy. The only people who qualify for right to buy are long-term tenants, and Government data has shown that 78% of new lettings remain lifetime tenancies. That means that in three quarters of cases, we are looking at social homes that are unlikely ever to be available to a prospective tenant when they need it. All of that clearly demonstrates that right to buy is not the issue—it is part of the solution.

That is not the only available avenue that the Government could take to support those on the waiting list and get more people into the housing they need. I hope that you will not mind, Madam Deputy Speaker, if I offer two key areas in which progress could be made. First and foremost, it could be made through house building. The Government put forward clear and definite promises to voters in 2024. We were told that by the end of this Parliament, the Government will have built 1.5 million new homes, including

“the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.”

The new Prime Minister—a self-proclaimed opponent of 1980s policies—has similarly committed to a social housing revolution, albeit without a defined target or an idea of what that looks like. But now, halfway through this Parliament, after the slog of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, multiple updates to the national planning policy framework and the publication of this Bill, we are left without a clear route to building more homes, and projections from the Government themselves show that they have managed to build just 26% of their target in nearly 50% of the time.

The Bill does nothing to prioritise building. It will not add a single social home to the housing stock.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) (Lab)]

Housing remains one of the biggest challenges in my inbox, and I meet weekly with constituents who are stuck on a waiting list for social housing. In fact, almost 5,000 families in Gloucester are waiting for somewhere to call home. I am proud to support this Government, who are committed to the biggest increase in social housing in a generation. That is in stark contrast to the record of the Conservatives; rough sleeping went up 165% under their Government, and the number of children living in temporary accommodation more than doubled. Their current plan to add another 100,000 to that list is simply not acceptable—not on our watch.

I welcome the Bill. I agree that it is right that we incentivise the building of social homes. We need to build more in Gloucester, and I stand ready to work on a cross-party basis with Gloucester city council, local housing associations and Homes England to deliver this. It is also important that we improve the quality of existing social homes and follow through on the promises made to local residents in Podsmead and Matson, who have been promised regeneration of their areas for far too long without seeing it delivered.

Finally, I am pleased to see the work that this Department is doing with other Departments to tackle violence against women and girls. No one should be forced to stay in an unsafe situation because they are worried about becoming homeless. I welcome measures to support survivors and victims of domestic abuse, especially new mechanisms to remove perpetrators from their tenancies, not victims.

Alongside our Government’s commitment to offer everyone sleeping rough a roof by Christmas—there is £1.6 million for Gloucester city council to deliver this—we are making a clear argument that everyone deserves a safe, decent place to call home. Those are the foundations that we need to rebuild hope in Gloucester and deliver the better future that my constituents deserve.