Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Akehurst Excerpts

Monday 13th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing that working group together. That is an excellent use of her role as a Member of Parliament to support her community to have a bigger say, and to enable them to share their ideas and creativity about how to tackle local priorities in the circumstances she is talking about—the important matter of getting people into work and guaranteeing them a better future.

[Luke Akehurst (North Durham) (Lab)]

16. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of furnished tenancies for social homes.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

The Government recognise that a far smaller proportion of social rented homes are let as furnished or partly furnished, compared with the private rented sector. In our response to last year’s consultation on a new decent homes standard, we made clear that we are exploring what more can be done to support the tenants who are most in need to access floor coverings and other essential furniture. Tenants currently living without essential furniture can, of course, look to local authorities for support through the crisis and resilience fund.

[Luke Akehurst]

Karbon Homes, which is the dominant social landlord in North Durham, provides furnished tenancies to ensure that vulnerable low-income tenants can access essential furniture and white goods. What steps will the Minister’s Department take to ensure that other social landlords across the UK adopt this approach, to greatly improve the quality of life for the least well-off people?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and commend Karbon Homes for its commitment to furnished tenancies. While such tenancies are not mandatory, we know that many social landlords want to know more about the opportunities that furnished tenancy schemes can provide, as well as the funding and budgeting implications and operational requirements. We intend to publish comprehensive best practice guidance alongside our updated decent homes standard, and will engage with providers and other stakeholders in its development.