Housing

Housing. Who decides what?

From your front door to Parliament: what each level controls, where that comes from, and where it touches your household. No level is ranked; each is just a different part of the answer.

1. YouYou and your household

   Add your profile and the lines that touch your household are marked below. Nothing is assumed if you don't.

   Start with you →

2. Your areaYour area: Your council

   Your council is the housing authority and the planning authority for your area.

   • Runs the waiting list for council housing and decides who is offered a home, by points or bands based on need. Source: GOV.UK, Council housing
   • Must help if you are legally homeless, or will become homeless within the next 8 weeks. Source: GOV.UK, Help if you're homeless
   • Decides planning applications, and writes the local plan that sets how many homes are needed and where they go. Source: GOV.UK, Plan-making guidance (updated 27 November 2025)
3. Wider areaThe wider area

   There is no mayor or combined authority with housing powers here; housing decisions sit with your council and the government.

4. CountryThe country: UK Government and Parliament

   For England, housing law, national planning policy and the taxes on buying a home are set nationally.

   • The Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes the law about rented homes in England, including abolishing assured shorthold tenancies. Source: Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 27 October 2025; applies to England)
   • The National Planning Policy Framework (new edition, 17 August 2026) sets out the government's policies for plan-making and for deciding planning applications in England. Source: GOV.UK, National Planning Policy Framework
   • Buying a home in England or Northern Ireland: Stamp Duty Land Tax, set by the UK Parliament. Source: GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax
   • Universal Credit can include money towards housing costs. Source: GOV.UK, Housing costs and Universal Credit
   • For private renters on Housing Benefit, the rent it covers is the Local Housing Allowance rate or the actual rent, whichever is lower. Source: GOV.UK, Housing Benefit: what you'll get

   What candidates and parties have published on housing →

Housing first; other topics will follow the same four steps. Descriptions come from the sources linked beside each line; the council’s own website is definitive for how it works locally.