PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Housing: Local Government (14 October 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent local authorities from bidding for housing stock outside of their own areas.

Asked by:
James McMurdock (Reform UK)

The government has no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prevent local authorities from bidding for housing stock outside of their own areas.

Local authorities are best placed to consider ways in which they can increase their stock and make decisions about the types of homes needed in their communities.

When delivering new social housing, councils are encouraged to achieve a good balance between acquisitions and new builds.

When placing households in temporary accommodation, homelessness legislation sets out that local authorities should try to place individuals within their own area, and when this is not possible, they should place the household as near as possible to the original local authority. The Government is clear that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing households out of their borough.

Answered by:
Matthew Pennycook (Labour)
23 October 2024