Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has provided to Leicester City Council to support the provision of temporary accommodation for rough sleepers in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In each of the last three years the government has allocated councils funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, which can be used flexibly according to local need, including for temporary accommodation costs. Over this time the government has also provided specific funding to support people at risk of and experiencing rough sleeping, including through the provision of accommodation.
You can find local authority level allocations for homelessness funding through gov.uk here.
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, how much funding was allocated to the Greater London Authority in each year of the 2026-36 affordable housing programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Greater London Authority has secured up to £11.7 billion to deliver the London portion of the government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which will run from 2026 to 2036.
The programme will support the delivery of thousands of new social and affordable homes across London, with the overall housing target for the programme to be confirmed after the initial bidding round.
Funding is available to deliver projects that can start on site by March 2036 and complete by March 2039.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) monitoring and (b) enforcement action his Department undertakes to ensure that temporary accommodation in Leicester meets minimum health, safety and hygiene standards.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Housing authorities must, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Households may request a review of their accommodation if they feel it is unsuitable.
If an applicant is not satisfied with how the council has handled their case, they may complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or take legal action through the courts.
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, what is the estimated revenue from business rates in England in (a) 2024-25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Estimated net business rates yield in England for can be found in Table 1 of the ‘National non-domestic rates collected by councils in England’ statistical releases.
Data for 2024-25 based on out-turn (actual) data can be found on gov.uk here.
Forecast data for 2025-26 can be found on gov.uk here.
Data for 2026-27 will be published in mid-February 2026.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Future Homes Standard.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government understands the urgency of introducing new energy efficiency standards so that as many homes as possible are highly efficient and use low-carbon heating. We are carefully considering at what level to set the technical requirements of the Future Homes Standard to deliver an ambitious standard that is on track to achieve our net zero ambitions while also being achievable across the country. The Future Homes Standard will be published in early 2026.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Written Question 106268, if his Department will publish its economic modelling of the potential cost-savings arising from the creation of unitary authorities in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in UIN 99016, councils are responsible for working through the implications of local government reorganisation, including the assessment of cost and merits.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Question 10626, whether his Department has conducted its own modelling of potential cost-savings arising from the creation of unitary authorities in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in UIN 99016, councils are responsible for working through the implications of local government reorganisation, including the assessment of cost and merits.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of assistance available to people with EWS1 forms deemed to be invalid and unacceptable by mortgage lenders.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials in my department have regular engagement with financial sector stakeholders. A product of this is the lenders’ statement on cladding which has signatories from ten major banks and building societies.
These lenders have committed to consider mortgage applications, even if a property has building safety issues, provided either the building has funding for works from government or the developer, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act, and the leaseholder has completed a ‘Leaseholder Deed of Certificate’ to evidence it.
The statement was further updated in April last year to confirm that even where an EWS1 has, what they consider to be, an invalid signatory, lenders will not require a wholesale review of affected EWS1s. Lenders will consider alternative evidence, for example: that a building is in a remediation scheme, a Leaseholder Deed of Certificate has been completed or a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall (FRAEW) has been undertaken.
An EWS1 form is not a government, legal or regulatory requirement. Not all lenders ask for an EWS1, but whether they do, remains a commercial decision.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with UK Finance on mortgage lenders' assessments of EWS1 forms issued by Tri Fire.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials in my department have regular engagement with financial sector stakeholders. A product of this is the lenders’ statement on cladding which has signatories from ten major banks and building societies.
These lenders have committed to consider mortgage applications, even if a property has building safety issues, provided either the building has funding for works from government or the developer, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act, and the leaseholder has completed a ‘Leaseholder Deed of Certificate’ to evidence it.
The statement was further updated in April last year to confirm that even where an EWS1 has, what they consider to be, an invalid signatory, lenders will not require a wholesale review of affected EWS1s. Lenders will consider alternative evidence, for example: that a building is in a remediation scheme, a Leaseholder Deed of Certificate has been completed or a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall (FRAEW) has been undertaken.
An EWS1 form is not a government, legal or regulatory requirement. Not all lenders ask for an EWS1, but whether they do, remains a commercial decision.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that the consultation process for the independent review into foreign interference in UK politics remains (i) transparent and (ii) accessible to people outside major political parties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions made about the Rycroft Review, within the scope of its terms of reference, are a matter for the independent reviewer and his team.
The review team’s email address is published online alongside the terms of reference here.
The review findings will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Security Minister by the end of March 2026.