Peter Aldous calls on the Government to address the housing crisis and build more homes for social rent, and he calls on the Government to ensure planning departments are properly resourced in personnel and funding.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
20. What steps his Department is taking to support house building. (905874)
The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Rachel Maclean)
House building is a priority for this Government. We have announced £10 billion-worth of investment in the housing supply since the start of this Parliament, and ultimately, our interventions are due to unlock over 1 million new homes. We are also investing £11.5 billion in the latest affordable homes programme, to provide tens of thousands of new homes across the country.
Peter Aldous
To address the housing crisis, we need to be building more homes for social rent, and planning departments must be properly resourced in personnel and funding. Will my hon. Friend set out the steps she is taking to address those two specific issues?
Rachel Maclean
My hon. Friend speaks with considerable expertise on these matters. We know that many local planning authorities are facing capacity and capability challenges, which is why we have developed a programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to put more skills and capacity into planning authorities. Our levelling up White Paper is committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes across the country.