To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any steps his Department has taken to make (i) private tenancies; and (ii) mortgages more affordable.

In order to help assist with affordability in accessing the private rented sector, my Department has already limited the amount of tenancy deposit that a landlord can request or retain to no more than one month’s rent.

To assist with ongoing affordability challenges, I have instructed my officials to take forward work to commence a restriction on the frequency of rent increases to once in any 12-month period, with a 3-month written notice to be given. I anticipate that the restriction will be in place from April.

Commencing this legislation will assist low-income tenants by providing an assurance that they will not face multiple or unexpected rent increases over a short period of time.

Supporting people into home ownership who are unable to do so due to affordability issues is another of my Department’s key housing priorities.

This is demonstrated through the large commitment made to Co-Ownership in recent years, providing £158m in funding, primarily Financial Transactions Capital (FTC), to assist over 4,400 people into home ownership between 2020/21 and 2024/25 through its shared ownership product, Co-Own.

Although the first-time buyer market here remains strong, I recognise that this group can face significant challenges to purchase a home, and the availability of a deposit is often as great a barrier to people as the price of the property. That is why it is so important that Co-Ownership customers require significantly lower, and indeed, sometimes no deposit to access their mortgage.