Recommendation 24

The Government clearly recognises the scale of the homelessness crisis in England, and we welcome the scale of the Government’s ambition to tackle it. We welcome the Government’s target to deliver 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament, however, as the Minister for Homelessness and Democracy outlined, we must not lose focus on the need for social and affordable housing to alleviate the crisis in temporary accommodation. (Conclusion, Paragraph 91) The Government must ensure that social and genuinely affordable housing forms a substantial proportion of its 1.5 million target, given the importance of these tenures to ending homelessness in England. In the forthcoming long-term housing strategy, the Government must set out how the national housing target will be achieved by tenure, including a target for Social Rent homes to promote genuinely affordable housing as part of the housing mix. The Government must also recognise the urgent need for immediate interventions, as outlined in this Report, to improve temporary accommodation provision and to support families into more settled homes. (Recommendation, Paragraph 91) 49