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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to (a) enable the use of derelict buildings for housing developments and (b) reduce waiting times for people applying for social housing allocations.

Brownfield Housing Fund

The Prime Minister recently announced that seven Mayoral Combined Authorities, including the West Midlands Combined Authority, are each receiving a share of the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund. The fund will bring under-utilised brownfield land back into use, including derelict buildings and vacant land, to help unlock 26,000 homes, contributing to the levelling-up of our country.

Social Housing

The Localism Act 2011 gave local councils power to manage their own waiting lists, so they can decide who should qualify for social housing in their area and develop solutions which make best use of the social housing stock. Since 2012, the social housing waiting list in England has reduced by 37 per cent.

The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes. The existing Affordable Homes Programme?will be extended by one year. This will save homes that would otherwise have been lost following site closures due to Covid-19.

We have announced the details of a £12 billion investment in affordable housing to March 2026. This includes the new Affordable Homes Programme of £11.5 billion to deliver up to 180,000 homes should economic conditions allow. In total, this five-year programme represents the highest single funding commitment to affordable housing in a decade. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jenrick-unveils-huge-12-billion-boost-for-affordable-homes