National Plan to End Homelessness

Jeremy Corbyn Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for his apposite question. There is extra money for supported housing in the strategy, and we will be monitoring the success of that. There is also money for recovery, because there is no doubt that people live with the trauma of homelessness for many years, and we need to help them move forward.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I thank the Minister for the statement and for the aspiration to end homelessness, which is extremely welcome. I have two areas of concern. One is the insufficiency of council house building happening at the moment and the way in which almost every local authority seeks, in their terms, to balance a development, which includes properties for sale or properties for a rent much higher than a social level. That means that, in constituencies such as mine, a social cleansing of an entire borough ends up taking place as people cannot get council housing because so much is being built for other people to make money out of.

The second issue is related to the private rented sector. Even though I welcome the end of section 21 evictions, they are still going on and will do so until May. Hundreds—actually, thousands—across the country have been evicted through that process. Can the Minister not do something to bring forward the abolition of section 21 and look at the real issue, which is rent control within the private rented sector, because we are subsidising it through taxpayers’ money?

[Alison McGovern]

I think I have responded a number of times on our ambitions for social housing and mixed communities. On section 21, the right hon. Member will have noted that we are investing more in this year to help councils respond to the crisis that we face now, as well as having long-term objectives.