Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to work with local councils to prevent homelessness.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking to support people sleeping rough in colder months.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rushanara Ali)]

This Government have increased funding for homelessness services by £233 million, to a total of nearly £1 billion for 2025-26. The Government have also provided £60 million of additional emergency winter pressures funding to support people sleeping rough during the colder months.

[Rushanara Ali]

The Government remain committed to abolishing section 21 no-fault evictions for both new and existing tenancies as soon as possible. We will ensure that the sector has adequate notice of the system taking effect, and we will work closely with stakeholders to enable a smooth transition.

[Lee Pitcher]

I recently took part in an organised sleep-out event at Doncaster’s Eco-Power stadium. The event was set up by the Club Doncaster Foundation to raise money for projects supporting homeless people. Such fundraisers, and the work done by charities like Shelter and Doncaster’s People Focused Group, are vital, but it is ultimately up to the Government to solve the problem of homelessness. Can the Minister update us on what the Government are doing to fulfil the need for social housing?

[Rushanara Ali]

Since taking office, we have made £800 million of new funding available to deliver 7,800 new social and affordable homes. From 2026-27, we are injecting £2 billion to build up to 18,000 more homes by the end of this Parliament. We will announce additional funding for next year and beyond at the spending review.