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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the report by the Commission of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on Housing, Church and Community Coming Home: Tackling the housing crisis together, published on 21 February, and (2) proposals to use church-owned land to build affordable housing developments; and what plans they have (a) to review existing charity law, (b) to extend the provisions of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, and (c) to amend other relevant legislation, to allow for land to be used for charitable purposes without a requirement for financial gain.

We welcome the recent report from the Archbishops’ Commission, and the very important contribution of the Church to our shared commitment to help our country build back better, including supporting affordability. We will continue to work closely with the Church of England to explore how we can support them and work together to achieve our shared commitments.

We have already made a number of commitments which will bolster the delivery of high quality and sustainable affordable housing. The Government is investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will leverage up to £38 billion of private finance and provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow.

The Government would welcome the use of church-owned land to bring forward more affordable housing, and is content that charity law can facilitate this. The Charity Commission is able to approve the disposal of land or other assets at less than market value where the disposal is consistent with the charitable purpose of the organisation. We understand that the Charity Commission is engaging with the Archbishops’ Commissioners to understand how this can be better communicated within the Church, and we welcome that dialogue.