Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19817, for what reasons his Department does not produce estimates of the proportion of people who will be unable to afford to rent or buy a home in London in 2016.

Brandon Lewis

The proportion of people who are able to afford to rent or buy a home at a point in time is a function of macroeconomic and a number of other factors around which there is a high degree of uncertainty. As such, we do not believe such an assessment would prove to be reliable.

The Department publishes data on housing costs and income as part of the English Housing Survey. The latest survey, for 2013-14, shows that in England the proportion of income spent on housing costs was 18% for mortgagers, 29% for social renters, and 34% for private renters. The full report is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461439/EHS_Households_2013-14.pdf

In respect of housing need in London, it is for the Mayor of London, working with London Boroughs, to identify and plan for the market and affordable housing needs in London.