New Social Housing

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2011 Ministerial Corrections

The following are the answers given by the Minister for Housing and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), relating to questions from the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) during Communities and Local Government Question Time on 4 April 2011.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

22. What estimate his Department has made of the likely number of new social housing starts between May 2010 and April 2015.

[The Minister for Housing and Local Government (Grant Shapps)]

We are investing £4.5 billion in new affordable housing over the next four years, with the hope of producing 150,000 new affordable homes.

[Kerry McCarthy]

I thank the Minister for his reply, although I note that he referred just to affordable housing, not to affordable social housing. Given the imminent publication of the Government’s child poverty strategy, what conversations has he had with colleagues in other Departments about the impact of the lack of affordable social housing on achieving our child poverty targets?

[Grant Shapps]

The hon. Lady is right to draw the subject to the House’s attention. It is sadly true that there were 45,000 fewer affordable social homes in this country following 13 years of her party’s being in power. I have had extensive conversations with colleagues across Government to ensure that, in the next 13 years—or at least in the next four—a significantly greater number of social, affordable and all types of homes will be built across the social and regular housing sectors because this country needs homes, for which the new homes bonus will provide a significant boost.

[Official Report, 4 April 2011, Vol. 526, c. 737-38.]

Letter of correction from Mr Grant Shapps:

An error has been identified in an oral answer given on 4 April 2011. The correct answer should have been: