Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Felicity Buchan and Rachel Hopkins

Monday 22nd April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

T6. Over 1,000 families in Luton South are stuck in temporary accommodation, with wait times ranging from three to nine months for a one-bed property to eight to nine years for a three-bed. Across the country there has been a staggering 119% increase in temporary accommodation numbers since 2019. Does the Minister agree that that is just a direct cost of 14 years of Conservative failure on housing?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Felicity Buchan)]

The Government are very focused on temporary accommodation. That is why we are investing £2.4 billion, of which £1.2 billion is specifically for the homelessness prevention grant. In the last Budget, we increased the local housing allowance rate to the 30th percentile. That is worth £1.2 billion. We have also increased the local authority housing fund.