Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 32
4th Report - Tackling homelessness
Published 24 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Tackling homelessness All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We pressed MHCLG on the main barriers to increasing housing supply. It replied that one of the key issues is viability of sites, and that it is engaging actively with local government on the use of Section 106 money (funding that local authorities receive from developers, to pay for community and social infrastructure projects) to develop sites. It also explained that there is a need to improve planning policy and raise the percentage of the new 42 Public Accounts Committee, Oral evidence: Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye, HC 361, Qq 132, 133 43 Qq 64-65; C&AG’s Report, paras 2.14, 2.19, 2.20 44 TH0031 45 TH0029 46 TH0011 18 social housing supply to which the Government commits itself. MHCLG told us that it was already taking action with regard to housing supply–for example, through setting compulsory planning targets for local authorities; its consultation on the new national planning policy framework, which it announced in July 2024; and more recent consultations on social housing and changes to the right to buy scheme.47
From: Public Accounts Committee, 4th Report - Tackling homelessness (HC 352), 24 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourth report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations on tackling homelessness, giving target implementation dates ranging from April 2025 to Summer 2026 and noting that some are already implemented.
- On temporary accommodation, the government agrees with the recommendation and reports it as implemented: the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million (later £8 million in total), work with 20 local authorities with the highest use of B&B accommodation.
- On consolidating funding, MHCLG will merge its main rough sleeping and single homelessness grants into a single grant for 2025-26, and will "explore options" for aligning Homelessness Prevention Grant funding with rough sleeping funding. It will "consider whether and how" to consolidate homelessness grants into the Local Government Finance Settlement.
- On local connection tests, regulations in force since 18 December 2024 exempt all former regular armed forces members. MHCLG will bring forward changes for domestic abuse victims and care leavers under 25 "in due course".
- On supported housing, the government agrees, with a target date of Summer 2026. A 12-week consultation published on 20 February 2025 covers a licensing regime and National Supported Housing Standards, with a response to follow "as soon as possible".