Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to update the National Planning Policy Framework to (a) reflect the affordability of almshouses and (b) include them in the definition of affordable housing.

Where almshouse organisations are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing and are letting homes at Social or Affordable Rent, or providing low-cost home ownership through shared ownership schemes, those homes are likely to fall within the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework.

As part of the National Planning Policy Framework consultation between 22 December 2022 and 2 March 2023, we sought views on how we can help bring forward more community-led housing, including almshouses. We will be publishing a response to that consultation in due course.