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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the responsibilities of (a) unitary councils and (b) mayors will be for the delivery of the affordable homes programme.

The government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the multi-year Spending Review later this year. This will support local authorities as well as housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply.

We are considering how all local authorities with housing responsibilities, including unitary authorities, will interact with our new investment for social and affordable housing and we will announce further details at the Spending Review.

The Devolution White Paper set out that mayors will be given the ability to set the strategic direction of any future affordable housing in their area. Further details will be set out as part of any future programme design.