Written questions by Babarinde.

Communities and Local Government, what funding has been allocated to mental health services to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme funds drug and alcohol treatment and wraparound support for people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough. It aims to improve access to treatment, including for those with co-occurring mental health needs. For 2025/26, the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme has provided £419,394 to East Sussex County Council. From 2026/27 to 2028/29, we have committed £185 million to the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme overall and East Sussex will continue to receive funding. As set out in A National Plan to End Homelessness, we recognise the need for specialist mental health support for individuals who are, or are at risk of becoming, homeless. The NHS England Mental Health Rough Sleeping programme is supporting better access to specialist homelessness mental health support. Across the country, 37 multi-agency teams have developed services that have significantly reduced mental health crisis admissions to emergency departments as well as the length of stay in hospital. The independent evaluation of the NHS England Mental Health Rough Sleeping Programme will be published shortly and we will engage with local system leaders to share the full findings. It is the responsibility of local systems to commission mental health services for their population based on their assessment of local need.

Communities and Local Government, what Government funding is available to third-party organisations, including charities and voluntary groups, to support homelessness prevention.

The National Plan to End Homelessness recognises the important role of voluntary, community and faith groups in delivering homelessness prevention work and forming partnerships with other local services and encourages councils and Mayors to develop their partnership working to strengthen services in their areas. Through the £37 million Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, we will invest in these services to help people rebuild their lives and stay off the streets for good. This will support over 100 voluntary sector organisations and reach over 60,000 people a year. Local authorities can also use government funding for homelessness and rough sleeping to commission services delivered by charities and voluntary groups in their area. The government has invested more than £1 billion in homelessness services this year.

Communities and Local Government, how much financial support his Department has provided for supported accommodation in a) Eastbourne and b) East Sussex in each year since 2015.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 introduced a duty for all local housing authorities in England to formulate and publish local supported housing strategies. The government will provide new burdens funding and publish guidance shortly, setting out how local authorities should undertake an analysis of existing supported housing provision, current unmet need and future need.Young people need the right support alongside housing to improve health, wellbeing and access employment, enabling them to access and retain housing and reducing their risk of homelessness and rough sleeping. Funding for housing support services is primarily through the Local Government Finance Settlement and commissioning of services is for local authorities to determine. We have confirmed a new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country. We want to see new supply of supported housing in England through the new programme, in greater numbers and also across a diverse range of cohorts and housing types, including for vulnerable young people.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure people experiencing homelessness can access mental health and addiction support when they are placed in accommodation outside of their local authority area.

The cross-government National Plan to End Homelessness makes clear that councils should, wherever possible, place households within their own area, except where there are clear benefits for the person seeking assistance (for example, in cases of domestic abuse). Any placements out of area should minimise disruption to essential services, particularly health services including mental health and addiction support, as well as education and wider support networks. Placing authorities must notify receiving areas under Section 208 of the Housing Act 1996, enabling engagement with local services to help ensure continuity of support for households placed out of area.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding he has allocated to support affordable housing delivery in a) Eastbourne and b) East Sussex.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 58440 on 17 June, the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771), and the Social and Affordable Homes Programme policy statement published on 7 November which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to support the sustainability of the Long-term Housing Revenue Account.

There has been no freeze on the Housing Revenue Account since the social housing rent reduction policy between 2016 and 2020.For steps the government is taking to support the sustainability of the Housing Revenue Account, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).The government has today announced further measures to support local authorities to build more social and affordable homes, including confirmation of our approach to Social Rent convergence. Details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1283).

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure people experiencing homelessness can access mental health and addiction support.

My Department worked closely with the Department for Health and Social Care as part of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to develop our cross-government strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness. Our Plan includes measures to support people experiencing homelessness to access mental health and drug and alcohol support. The Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping will continue to work across government to maintain collaboration and assure delivery of the commitments in this strategy. It will also publish progress reports every two years that monitor progress on the implementation of measures set out in this strategy, including our national cross-government targets.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local initiatives that build resilience to homelessness, including through volunteering, community donations, and partnership working.

The National Plan to End Homelessness recognises the important role of voluntary, community and faith groups in delivering homelessness prevention work and forming partnerships with other local services and encourages councils and Mayors to develop their partnership working to strengthen services in their areas. Through the £37 million Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, we will invest in these services to help people rebuild their lives and stay off the streets for good. This will support over 100 voluntary sector organisations and reach over 60,000 people a year. Local authorities can also use government funding for homelessness and rough sleeping to commission services delivered by charities and voluntary groups in their area. The government has invested more than £1 billion in homelessness services this year.

Communities and Local Government, what affordable housing targets apply to a) Eastbourne and b) East Sussex.

National planning policy makes clear that it is for local planning authorities to assess the affordable housing need of their areas, including the need for social rent, and set policies to meet this local need. This includes setting out the proportion and type of affordable housing that should be delivered on new development. The government does not set individual social and affordable housing targets for individual areas. The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including proposals designed to further support the delivery of affordable housing. This includes support for affordable housing in rural areas, proposals to give affordable housing needs clearer weight in the planning system and specifying a minimum proportion of social rent housing that would be required of major development unless otherwise specified in development plans. The consultation on changes to the NPPF can be found on gov.uk here, and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to provide future funding to increase supported accommodation stock in a) Eastbourne and b) East Sussex.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 introduced a duty for all local housing authorities in England to formulate and publish local supported housing strategies. The government will provide new burdens funding and publish guidance shortly, setting out how local authorities should undertake an analysis of existing supported housing provision, current unmet need and future need.Young people need the right support alongside housing to improve health, wellbeing and access employment, enabling them to access and retain housing and reducing their risk of homelessness and rough sleeping. Funding for housing support services is primarily through the Local Government Finance Settlement and commissioning of services is for local authorities to determine. We have confirmed a new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country. We want to see new supply of supported housing in England through the new programme, in greater numbers and also across a diverse range of cohorts and housing types, including for vulnerable young people.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current stock of supported accommodation in a) Eastbourne b) East Sussex.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 introduced a duty for all local housing authorities in England to formulate and publish local supported housing strategies. The government will provide new burdens funding and publish guidance shortly, setting out how local authorities should undertake an analysis of existing supported housing provision, current unmet need and future need.Young people need the right support alongside housing to improve health, wellbeing and access employment, enabling them to access and retain housing and reducing their risk of homelessness and rough sleeping. Funding for housing support services is primarily through the Local Government Finance Settlement and commissioning of services is for local authorities to determine. We have confirmed a new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country. We want to see new supply of supported housing in England through the new programme, in greater numbers and also across a diverse range of cohorts and housing types, including for vulnerable young people.

Communities and Local Government, how many people are currently accessing both mental health and addiction services who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in a) Eastbourne b) East Sussex c) Sussex.

NHS England publishes data at a national level on accommodation status for people in contact with mental health services. Using accommodation types associated with homelessness, including rough sleeper, squatting, sofa surfing, staying with friends or family as a short‑term guest, bed and breakfast accommodation to prevent or relieve homelessness, sleeping in a night shelter, hostel to prevent or relieve homelessness, and temporary housing to prevent or relieve homelessness, the dataset at the end of November 2025 shows around 21,429 people fall into these groups out of 2,088,415 people in contact with services nationally (approximately 1.03%).78% of all service users have an ‘unknown’ recorded accommodation status, meaning the true number experiencing homelessness while accessing mental health services may be higher.

Communities and Local Government, how many people are currently accessing mental health services who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in a) Eastbourne b) East Sussex c) Sussex.

Data on substance misuse treatment is available on the ViewIt statistics viewer on National Drugs Treatment Monitoring System website (NDTMS - ViewIt - Adult). This data is only available at an upper tier local authority level, therefore data for East Sussex and West Sussex only have been provided below.In East Sussex, there were 1,280 new treatment presentations with known housing status during 2024/25. Of these, 345 people were identified as experiencing homelessness, accounting for 27% of the total new presentations. In West Sussex, there were 1,465 new treatment presentations with known housing status during 2024/25. Of these, 350 people were identified as experiencing homelessness, accounting for 24% of the total new presentations.

Communities and Local Government, how many people are currently accessing addiction support services who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in a) Eastbourne b) East Sussex c) Sussex.

NHS England publishes data at a national level on accommodation status for people in contact with mental health services. Using accommodation types associated with homelessness, including rough sleeper, squatting, sofa surfing, staying with friends or family as a short‑term guest, bed and breakfast accommodation to prevent or relieve homelessness, sleeping in a night shelter, hostel to prevent or relieve homelessness, and temporary housing to prevent or relieve homelessness, the dataset at the end of November 2025 shows around 21,429 people fall into these groups out of 2,088,415 people in contact with services nationally (approximately 1.03%).78% of all service users have an ‘unknown’ recorded accommodation status, meaning the true number experiencing homelessness while accessing mental health services may be higher.

Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made to implement the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.

The government remains committed to improving the quality of supported housing and implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. A consultation on the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act’s measures, including supported housing licensing proposals and the draft National Supported Housing Standards for support, was published in 2025. The government will publish its response as soon as possible, ahead of consulting on draft licensing regulations and guidance. Furthermore, guidance for the duty on local authorities to produce supported housing strategies will be published in February. New burdens funding will be allocated this financial year. The strategies will identify current provision, unmet need, enabling local authorities to plan for future demand. The Supported Housing Advisory Panel will be convened imminently, as soon as a Chair is in post.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to review the home-buying and selling process in England and Wales, with the aim of reducing transaction fall-through rates and associated financial losses for buyers and sellers.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 87197 on 7 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the government is taking to cap service and estate management charges paid by residents.

The government has no plans to cap service charges or estate management charges given this would prevent necessary funds being raised for legitimate purposes.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the government is taking to abolish leasehold tenures for (a) flats and (b) other properties.

The government intends to consult this year on the best approach to banning new leasehold flats, ensuring this works effectively alongside the robust ban on leasehold houses provided for by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle the intersectional stigma of place-based ageing.

I recognise that people can face challenges as they age, and so I welcome the University of Stirling Research on the Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing and look forward to seeing it's report in due course.This research is exploring how interventions such as home and environmental modifications can help people to age well within their homes and communities.This government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling older and disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why government has boosted funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which can contribute to the cost of adaptations for eligible people of all ages and tenures, to £711 million for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.DFG funding helps adapt over 55,000 homes annually, helping disabled people and their families to live independently and well in their own homes and communities for longer.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the number of empty retail units and (b) help regenerate high streets in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) other towns.

This government is taking several steps to reduce empty retail units and regenerate high streets in Eastbourne and other towns across the country. Eastbourne will benefit from up to £20 million over 10 years through the £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods programme announced in March, which aims to regenerate local areas, including high streets in deprived areas.Additionally, the government is tackling vacancy with High Street Rental Auctions, giving local authorities the power to auction rental rights of persistently vacant commercial properties. We are also legislating through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill for a new Community Right to Buy, enabling communities to acquire valued assets. These measures will help revive footfall, boost local economies, and empower communities.