The Work of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Status / emerging findings

• Housebuilding numbers fell in the first year, with 10 London boroughs recording zero new starts; the government attributes this to cost pressures and lack of viability rather than planning barriers alone
• The Building Safety Regulator is a major bottleneck, though new chair Andy Rowe is targeting backlog clearance by end-year; Secretary of State resisted further legislative reform
• Government is stimulating London housing via a package reducing affordable housing requirements from 35% to 20% with clawback, and relaxing design rules to cut costs
• 160,000 children in temporary accommodation at Christmas; the government prioritises building 1.5 million homes over raising frozen local housing allowance
• Leasehold reform legislation promised within 2025; local government funding remains constrained despite £515m additional National Insurance support, with multi-year settlements delayed

Why it matters

The government is failing to hit early housing targets and managing a severe homelessness crisis while cutting affordable housing requirements; the committee is scrutinising whether fiscal constraints and regulatory failures are masking a housing strategy in trouble.

Tone arc

Initially focused on long-term housing supply and legislative ambition (January), shifted sharper in November towards challenging delivery failures and bottlenecks—particularly the Building Safety Regulator's impact on London and the tension between cost-cutting via reduced affordable housing versus homelessness crisis.

Key witnesses

Steve Reed (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government), Angela Rayner (Deputy Prime Minister), Dame Sarah Healey (Permanent Secretary, MHCLG), Andy Rowe (new Chair, Building Safety Regulator)