UK Inquiry Tracker

Unlocking land for housing

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 12 Dec 2025 Parliament page

A shortage of land is cited by government as underpinning the housing crisis. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) supports programmes aimed at boosting land supply for housing development which is deemed necessary to ‘unlock’. This could be land not currently viable or attractive enough for development … Read more A shortage of land is cited by government as underpinning the housing crisis. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) supports programmes aimed at boosting land supply for housing development which is deemed necessary to ‘unlock’. This could be land not currently viable or attractive enough for development through the market alone. MHCLG reported that it unlocked land capable of delivering 79,000 homes in 2024-25, and 347,000 over the past five years. In its 2019 report on the sale of public land, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned that government at the time would fail to meet key land disposal targets, with the government failing to use its position as a major land owner to develop and execute a strategy to do so. In its 2025 report on improving local areas through developer funding, the PAC found that housing developer funds were failing to reach local communities due to systemic problems, highlighting the unacceptable issue of unsold developer-funded homes sitting empty. In early 2026, the National Audit Office (NAO) is due to publish its findings in its report into unlocking land for housing, which will explore MHCLG’s approach to making land available for housing where the market fails to do so. Proceeding from the NAO’s findings, the PAC will take evidence from senior MHCLG and Homes England officials as it scrutinises how well government is delivering its ambitions to build the right homes in the right places. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 30 March 2026. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The Committee decides what information to publish and how. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is for the Committee to say whether it will agree.It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues. Show less

1 Recommendation

23 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 4 events

17 Jul
2026

Report published

11th Report - Unlocking land for housing

8 Jun
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government relating to unlocking land for housing evidence session f…

21 May
2026

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

21 May
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government relating to Unlocking land for housing, 19…

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

21 May 2026

View on parliament.uk

Alison Crofton · Homes England Alison Crofton · Homes England Amy Rees · HMPPS Cathy Francis · Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government Joanna Key · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Sarah Healey · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
11th Report - Unlocking land for housing	HC 87	17 Jul 2026	24	Pending

Recommendations & Conclusions

24 results

2 Recommendation

11th Report - Unlocking land for h…

The Department and Homes England have not been fully transparent about their plans for tracking...

The Department and Homes England have not been fully transparent about their plans for tracking the number of homes built on land unlocked by legacy programmes. The Department and Homes England are retrospectively tracking how many homes were built on … Read more

HM Treasury

Unlocking land for housing

Activity timeline 4 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

The Department and Homes England have not been fully transparent about their plans for tracking...

It will be important that the Department and Homes England have clear plans to adapt...

We remain unconvinced that the Department and Homes England have a strategic approach to allocating...

The Department failed to put in place external evaluation at the launch of the NHDF,...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

As stated above the Department launched the £21 billion NHDF in March 2026.11 The remit...

The Department told us it is finalising the business case for the NHDF now.13 We...

We questioned the Department on what it wants the NHDF to deliver, including how many...

We challenged the Department on when it would be able to set out its expectation...

Delivery of new homes is one of the key long-term outcomes the Department expects from...

We asked the Department whether it has a clear understanding of the homes delivered resulting...

We asked how the number of homes delivered through legacy programmes were being tracked.

We challenged Homes England on how it ensures transparency and consistency in its method.

The scope of regional devolution has increased since the early years of the the Department’s...

We questioned Homes England on how it is adapting its delivery approach to the changes...

We asked how accountability and delivery would be maintained where funding has been devolved to...

We also explored how areas without established mayoral structures would be supported.

The Department has taken various approaches, driven by shifting policy priorities, to where it invests...

We questioned the Department on how it is selecting and prioritising projects for the NHDF.

We asked the Department how it is prioritising locations for funding.

We pressed the Department on how it expects to ensure an overall balanced and effective...

Evaluations of the legacy unlocking land programmes helped shape the design of the NHDF.54 However,...

We asked the Department what evaluation arrangements were in place for the NHDF and when...

We also asked how the Department intends to ensure that lessons are learned and applied...

Correspondence 2 letters