Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Conclusion 27

Sixth Report - The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector Published 8 May 2024 Paragraph 134 Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee The finances and sustainability of the social housing sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Conclusion (the committee's words)

The Government has failed to set out the rationale for the decision to focus the inadequate grant on developing affordable rent homes. There should be an early assessment of the adequacy of grant funding allocations within the remaining Affordable Homes Programme and how much social rent is to be supported, together 46 The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector with an assessment of the role of appropriate private investment providing affordable rent or other forms of tenure in order to free up grant funding to better support more social housing provision.

From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Sixth Report - The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector (HC 60), paragraph 134, 8 May 2024

Government response

3rd Special Report - The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector: Government Response

The government responded to the whole report on 7 March 2025 (deadline 8 July 2024).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government says it is "committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation" and agrees with the report's conclusion on the need for more Social Rent homes, while setting no specific target.

On targets, it states "we have not set a specific target" for Social Rent but will prioritise such homes, with details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme to be set out at the Spending Review.
On rents, it has consulted on a five-year settlement from 2026 allowing increases of up to CPI + 1% a year, and is "now considering the responses" with a response to be issued "later this year".
On decarbonisation, it plans to consult on Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards at EPC C for social rented homes "in the coming months", and says further funding "will be considered" as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
On building safety remediation, it has committed to announce "this year" a long-term strategy for the social sector, reflecting the 2025 Spending Review settlement.

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1st Special Report - The finances and sustainability of the social housing sector: Regulator of Social Housing response

Published 28 November 2024.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Regulator of Social Housing agrees with the Committee on several points, including the importance of providers' use of resources and tenant engagement, but declines to set out specific early measures and says it would not want to "fetter our discretion".

On providers' use of resources, it "agree[s]" that providers need to manage difficult trade-offs, and agrees the effective use of resources is an element of governance, value for money and responsiveness to tenants.
On regeneration, it says its standards do not identify "specific expectations of providers around their engagement in regeneration projects", but believes its consumer standards set out general expectations that align with the Committee's aspiration.
On for-profit providers, it agrees it is important to understand and scrutinise that part of the sector, and says it has a review of its current knowledge and future development of for-profit providers in its 2024-25 priorities.
On provider default, it does not set out specific early measures or timings, saying it is "confident" it has the approaches and powers to engage landlords early and resolve issues.

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