Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, entitled Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2015, that the number of people living in poverty who depend on housing in the private rented sector has doubled in the last decade.

Brandon Lewis

No such assessment has been made. The Government believes that the key to improving affordability is to build more homes. We have several initiatives to improve affordability, including a £10 billion debt guarantee scheme to support the delivery of new homes purpose built for private rent, up to 30,000 additional affordable homes and the delivery of 200,000 Starter Homes at a minimum 20% discount for young first time buyers through the planning system.

In addition to existing powers already in place, measures being taken forward through the Housing and Planning Bill will give councils stronger powers and incentives to tackle rogue landlords, to prevent those members of society in most need of affordable housing from becoming victims of poor quality and unsafe accommodation.