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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact of the fire safety challenges on the ability of housing associations to (a) build new homes, (b) undertake maintenance and repair works on existing properties and (c) not increase service charges and rents.

Individual housing associations are responsible for making the necessary investments to ensure their buildings are safe. The Government has supported this by committing up to £400 million to fully fund the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding systems on buildings over 18 metres that are owned by registered providers of social housing. The Government has also committed to meet the cost of removing other types of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres where the costs would otherwise have been borne by leaseholders or where a registered provider of social housing’s financial viability would otherwise be threatened.

The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and is investing over £12 billion in affordable housing, the largest investment in a decade. This includes the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow.

Social landlords are obliged by law to maintain the structure and exterior of their properties, and to keep sanitation, water, gas and electrical installations in repair. The Regulator of Social Housing requires that social rented homes are maintained by all landlords to at least the quality set out by the Decent Homes Standard, and we are reviewing the Decent Homes Standard to consider whether it needs to be updated to make sure it delivers what is needed for safety and decency today.

Service charges are payable only to the extent that the costs have been reasonably incurred as set out under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The Government’s social housing rent policy prohibits rent increases in excess of CPI plus one percentage point per annum (subject to certain exceptions) and are encouraged to keep service charges within this parameter.