Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to increase housing security for retired pensioners.

The Department is committed to ensuring older people can live in the right kind of homes that suit their needs, in places where they want to live. A new government taskforce, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, will look at the ways we can provide greater security, choice and quality of housing for older people. Further details on the scope of the taskforce work will be confirmed in due course.

The Department will also publish a White Paper this Spring, which will set out proposals to create a fairer private rented sector and we will bring forward legislation in due course. We recognise that the change in size and makeup of the private rented sector, with an increasing number of older people now renting their homes, means there is a growing need for longer and more stable tenancies. As part of the package of reforms, we intend to repeal Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to improve security for tenants by putting an end to evictions where the landlord does not have to give a reason.

We will also give consideration to the impact of our reforms on people with protected characteristics, including the impact on older people.