Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish a response to the second part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s consultation Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Noble Baroness to my Right Honourable Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning’s Written Ministerial Statement UIN HCWS270 of 15 July 2026 on the implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. As set out there, the Government will provide a separate response in due course in relation to the further reforms consulted upon.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities (HOLD) scheme; and what consideration they have given to the impact of upfront costs and expenses on potential participants of the scheme.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the noble Baroness to the answer given to Question UIN HL3045 on 15 September 2026.
The government has made no such assessment but is considering what can be done to improve the customer experience for all shared owners, including those who purchase via the Home Ownership for People with Long Term Disabilities (HOLD) scheme.
Some upfront costs associated with purchasing a HOLD property are typically lower than for open market purchases. For example, the deposit is only set in relation to the initial share being purchased, not the full open market value of the property. Rent on the unpurchased share is also set below market level.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to Written Statement by the Minister of State for Housing and Planning on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), what criteria they would use to define the necessary qualifications; which bodies could award these qualifications; and how it would ensure enforcement of such legislation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per the announcement of 29 September 2026, the government intends to legislate to regulate property agents through an independent statutory regulator. As a minimum this will cover managing agents across leasehold and commonhold, estate agents, letting agents and estate managers on freehold estates.
We will set out further detail on the government’s strategy for the regulation of property agents in due course, including on licensing, qualifications and codes of practice.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to regulate any part of the property management sector.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per the announcement of 29 September 2026, the government intends to legislate to regulate property agents through an independent statutory regulator. As a minimum this will cover managing agents across leasehold and commonhold, estate agents, letting agents and estate managers on freehold estates.
We will set out further detail on the government’s strategy for the regulation of property agents in due course, including on licensing, qualifications and codes of practice.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to include an independent regulator of managing agents in the forthcoming Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per the announcement of 29 September 2026, the government intends to legislate to regulate property agents through an independent statutory regulator. As a minimum this will cover managing agents across leasehold and commonhold, estate agents, letting agents and estate managers on freehold estates.
We will set out further detail on the government’s strategy for the regulation of property agents in due course, including on licensing, qualifications and codes of practice.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the single construction regulator as a potential regulator of property managers.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per the announcement of 29 September 2026, the government intends to legislate to regulate property agents through an independent statutory regulator. As a minimum this will cover managing agents across leasehold and commonhold, estate agents, letting agents and estate managers on freehold estates.
We will set out further detail on the government’s strategy for the regulation of property agents in due course, including on licensing, qualifications and codes of practice.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to respond to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report, Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, published on 27 May 2026.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department will issue a substantive response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee and introduce a substantive Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact (1) fire risk, (2) water use, (3) noise, and (4) landscape impacts, where an AI data centre and a battery energy storage system are proposed on the same or adjacent sites.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that development proposals should be appropriate for their location, taking into account the likely effects (including cumulative effects) of pollution on health, living conditions and the natural environment, whether these effects are on or off-site. Proposals should not give rise to, or contribute to, unacceptable levels of noise, water, or other forms of pollution on or beyond the site. Development proposals should also consider the environmental qualities of land proposed for development, including landscape character and the natural beauty of the countryside, and identify opportunities for those qualities to be conserved or enhanced.
Furthermore, the NPPF is also clear that development proposals should anticipate and address possible malicious threats and other hazards (whether natural or man-made) in relation to uses which could pose a potential hazard to the surrounding area. Planning Practice Guidance also encourages developers and local planning authorities to engage with their local Fire and Rescue Services early on to identify potential mitigations in the event of an incident, and have these views taken into account during determination of the application.
Similarly, data centres that are consented via the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime will be bound by the relevant national planning policy and environmental protections. The Government is preparing a new National Policy Statement for data centres which, once designated, will set out the relevant national policy framework for decision-making on data centre projects that proceed through the regime.
The application of these various policies will be case-specific, and it is for decision-makers to assess in the first instance what impact an AI data centre or battery storage facility may have.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness in response to the question from the hon. Member for New Forest East during the Urgent Question on Local Government Reorganisation of 13 July 2026, Official Report, column 618, if she will place in the Library a copy of the response to the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not routinely publish correspondence between Ministers and Members of Parliament. The reasons for the local government reorganisation decision in Essex were set out in the then Secretary of State’s decision letter to local council leaders of 25 March 2026, available here.
On 7 September 2026, the Government announced that it had withdrawn this decision and the proposals for Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock will now be considered alongside the wider local government reorganisation programme.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 7 September (HL Deb col 506), what the cost of local government reorganisation has been so far to (1) central government, and (2) local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government provided a total of ÂŁ7.6m in 25/26 to support the 21 areas undergoing local government reorganisation to develop proposals.
The Government also paid out ÂŁ1.8m in August 2026 to Surrey, with new councils taking on responsibilities from April 2027. This was part of the committed ÂŁ63 million capacity funding to councils undergoing reorganisation.
As part of the Review announced on 7 September, the Government will consider the approach to costs and funding given that areas will have committed some resources to reorganisation.