As chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Florence Eshalomi has responsibility for investigating some of the major housing issues facing this country, while at the same helping to inform government policy.

In this exclusive and wide-ranging interview with HQM, Florence talks to Jon Land about the committee’s recent inquiry into children living in temporary accommodation, the current state of social housing and the desperate need to reform local government finance.

Jon Land: Where did your interest in, and passion for, housing come from?

Florence Eshalomi: For me, I’d say that housing is personal. I grew up in social housing and when I think about some of the emails, policy decisions and cases that we’re looking at now in my role as the chair of the select committee, these were issues that I went through as a young child – I know what it’s like to live in temporary accommodation. I know what it’s like to live in B&B accommodation. I know what it’s like to live in accommodation that’s got damp and mould.

Even though I was only 10 years old, I still remember that joy and relief when we finally got the keys to our permanent home, knowing that myself and my mum and my two sisters wouldn’t have to be moving again with black bags and suitcases.

Housing is just so, so important. And I see how housing connects almost everything we do – your health, whether you’re able to go out and hold down a stable job, whether our children are able to go to school and learn the next day. For me, housing is central to all of that and it’s central to the government’s new ambition in terms of growth as well.

JL: Given what you’ve seen so far, do you believe the government can deliver on its 1.5 million new homes pledge before the end of the current parliament?

FE: It’s going to be very challenging. We’ve had a number of evidence sessions where we’ve questioned the secretary of state [Angela Rayner] and her key ministers, including Matthew Pennycook, who this falls under, Jim McMahon, Rushanara Ali and Alex Norris.

We’ve also heard from the housing experts. We’ve heard from the construction sector. We’ve heard from some of the people who are going to deliver these new homes, including registered social landlords. All of them are talking about the big issues across the sector in terms of capacity, in terms of skills, in terms of the key stumbling blocks, including some of the issues around building safely. Quite rightly, we have more safety and protections. We’re coming up to eight years this June since the tragedy of Grenfell and there are still buildings with remediation issues right across the country.

So, to build those 1.5 million new homes during the course of this parliament, it’s going to be hard, but we can’t afford not to, because as our [recent] report shows, the situation in temporary accommodation is unsustainable. So, we have to build those new homes.

“I know what it’s like to live in temporary accommodation. I know what it’s like to live in B&B accommodation. I know what it’s like to live in accommodation that’s got damp and mould”

JL: Can you talk us through the current priorities of the select committee and the progress on some of the inquiries, with particular regard to the children living in temporary accommodation inquiry that you’ve just reported on?

FE: When we first formed as the new select committee, I was very clear about some of the issues that I’ve been dealing with as a constituency MP, about some of the issues that I looked at as part of the shadow MHCLG team before the election and then looking at the government’s own priorities.

What was very clear through all of this, was the voices of children and families when we talk about the housing crisis. And, actually, we keep talking about the housing crisis, rightly so, but there’s a bigger crisis staring at all of us – the temporary accommodation crisis.

We have a situation now across England where there are over 164,000 children living in temporary accommodation. We’ve just started the Easter holidays. A number of those children will be going from accommodation to accommodation, sometimes on a nightly basis.

Across England, collectively, councils spent £2.2 billion on temporary accommodation in 2024. The 32 London boroughs are spending £4 million a day on temporary accommodation. We also found out about the state of the temporary accommodation that families have been placed in. We’re talking about properties with longstanding damp and mould, mice and rat infestations, cockroaches.

We’re talking about vulnerable children and women fleeing from domestic abuse, having to share facilities with males, including men who’ve just been released from prison.

We’re talking about young children, including babies and toddlers, not having space to crawl or play. We’re talking about a situation where children are having to share beds with their parents and their siblings. No space to do their homework, not even basic shower and bathroom facilities. Children having to have showers at school in some cases.

It’s worrying but I think the most shocking thing was the fact that evidence suggests that over 70 children have died because of the conditions linked to their temporary accommodation.

So, we’re really clear in our recommendations to government, around inspections before families are placed, making sure that GPs, schools and other local authorities are informed when families are moved out of the boroughs. There are key things that we think the government should be doing.

Other enquiries we’ve been looking at, and this is no surprise if you think about what’s going on, include the funding and sustainability of local government finance. But we wanted to make sure we don’t just say yes, we know that local government has been underfunded for the last 14 years and councils need more money. We think it’s time we had a really honest conversation about what local government is about, what local government is for.

Should we be honest about the statutory versus non statutory duties that local government have? Why is it that we’re still paying for adult social care through council tax? Why is it that the situation in SEND provision is eating into many council budgets? Why is it that some councils, such as Hastings, are spending almost 40% of their housing budget on temporary accommodation? That just isn’t sustainable. The situation across local government funding is really, really difficult.

In helping the government around this ambition of 1.5 million new homes, we’re also looking at the issue of land value capture and how we release some of the value in the land. For years, there’s been questions around land banking. Questions about how we work with housing associations. We’re keen to look at different funding formulas to help affordable housing and investment in public infrastructure.

We’ve also had one-off sessions on Grenfell and building safety and a really important committee session where we heard from Grenfell survivors. We heard from Grenfell next of kin and put difficult questions to the London Fire Brigade, Kensington and Chelsea Council, and some fire safety experts. We never want to see a situation like that again but the risk is still there. There are still buildings with cladding on them. There was a report from the National Audit Office and another from the Public Accounts Committee showing that the government’s pace on this is too slow. This is something that we’ll continue to push the government on.

JL: How much influence would you say the committee has in informing government policy?

FE: I think our role is making sure that the government are on the right track. Whenever we conclude our inquiries we produce a report and we have a set of recommendations that the government has to formally respond to. We hope that some of our recommendations will help the government as they formulate policy.

We’ve been very honest in questioning the government on some of the decisions that they’ve taken to date. For example, refreezing the local housing allowance. Credit to them for launching a cross-departmental task group on rough sleeping and homelessness, and for putting in additional funding, but when you’re freezing the local housing allowance you could see the unintended consequence of people becoming homeless through that policy decision.

“We have to do more to bring their [residents] voice to the table. When we’re talking about 1.5 million homes, when we’re talking about NPPF, when we’re talking about all this technical jargon, we have to remember that it’s about the people who live in these properties”

JL: What’s it like working with a cross-party group of MPs? And how do you reach a consensus on the issues you investigate?

FE: I’m sure when you speak to other select committee chairs they would say the same, but it’s genuinely really good. We’ve got such a good team of MPs from different constituencies right across England. Myself and Gagan Mohindra [Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire] are the only 2019-elected MPs. All the others are new MPs, but they’ve hit the ground running. There’s a lot of consensus on housing because this is an issue that comes up in all our inboxes as MPs.

JL: What’s your view on the current state of the social housing sector, the service it provides to tenants and what needs to be done to improve it?

FE: This is something that’s difficult to legislate for, but when you speak to residents there’s a view that the stigma around social housing is still there and the voice of tenants isn’t being listened to. I’ve spoken about this in the chamber in terms of my own experience. I’ve spoken about this in terms of what we saw being detailed in the Grenfell inquiry. How the tenants were treated was just really harrowing and shocking.

We have to do more to bring their voice to the table. When we’re talking about 1.5 million homes, when we’re talking about NPPF, when we’re talking about all this technical jargon, we have to remember that it’s about the people who live in these properties.

People who just want to go about their daily lives, people who want to pay their rent and service charges and council tax on time – but when it comes to the service that they receive from their landlord, whether it’s the council, whether it’s an RSL, whether it’s a private landlord, sometimes it falls short. Tenants are upholding their part of the contract but when they need that help and support they don’t seem to get it. I want to look at how we can address that and I know that this is something that the deputy prime minister cares passionately about as well.

We also need to look at how we give councils the ability and flexibility to actually lead on social housing. We know that councils are stretched. We know that there are things coming up this year such as Awaab’s Law that they need help to be ready for.

When we had a session with the major housing associations, the G15 group, the chief executives outlined that collectively a number of the housing associations are spending more on repairs and maintenance than they are on building new properties. You know, that just shows the scale and challenge of it. So again, it doesn’t help the service they provide to tenants if they are continually playing catch up and coming up with sticking plaster solutions to everything.

How do we make sure that the service improves? It’s going to take time. It’s going to take additional funding from the Treasury. And we have to get the Treasury to recognise this as well. So, this shouldn’t just sit with MCHLG. That’s what we feel as a committee.

And I also think it’s around recognising the role that housing plays within the ecosystem and the growth agenda. We want people living in harmony, living in mixed communities, who can contribute to UK PLC by going out to work.

At the moment, we’ve got people who are living in poor housing conditions that impact their mental and physical health, which then in turn impacts the NHS. All of this is interlinked.

“You’ve got situations where London councils are putting residents in properties as far away as Liverpool. You’ve got a council in Oldham purchasing property in Hastings. It’s really worrying…what more could we get housing associations to be doing on that?”

JL: With councils under so much pressure, and I know they have their own challenges, would you like to see housing associations step up a bit more in terms of temporary accommodation, tackling homelessness and reducing waiting lists?

FE: I do think they can do more. Just look at how councils are moving people out of their local areas because they simply don’t have the stock available. You’ve got situations where London councils are putting residents in properties as far away as Liverpool. You’ve got a council in Oldham purchasing property in Hastings.

It’s really worrying. So, for a start, what more could we get housing associations to be doing on that?

Another question that always comes is around empty homes. We know that for a number of housing associations and councils turning around voids seems to be taking a lot longer than it should be. Is there more that the government could be doing to help them bring those voids into use? It’s almost criminal that we’ve got families waiting for homes and we have so many properties lying vacant.

JL: Are you enjoying life as an MP and is it anything like the job that you imagined?

FE: Five years on, I still get lost in the Commons! I was there yesterday with a group of guests and I ended up taking the wrong route and I don’t know where we ended up. One of the doorkeepers had to direct us back.

But it’s an absolute honour to be able to represent the area that I know and love so well. Sadly, because of the boundary changes, where I lived and went to school is now just outside the constituency.

I’m just a girl from a council estate in Brixton. Never in my life did I imagine that I’d be sitting on those green benches. I don’t take that for granted at all. There are so many challenges, so many pressures. But equally, it’s such a vibrant and busy constituency. I’m blessed that it’s home to some of the UK’s most iconic arts institutions – the South Bank, the National Theatre – and the London Eye, the Oval Cricket ground.

I’d say the only bit that isn’t nice, sadly, is the abuse and racism that BME female parliamentarians get.