Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation 28

Sixth Report - The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector Published 8 May 2024 Paragraph 135 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 ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

The Government must start by providing a clear direction for the social housing sector: it should publish a target for how many social rent homes it intends to secure, and explain the reasoning behind it. The confusion and delay around targets must end now. The Government should set clear targets for net additions of social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership under the Affordable Homes Programme and should provide these in its response to this report.

From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Sixth Report - The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector (HC 60), paragraph 135, 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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