Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress her Department has made on reform of the leasehold system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government took swift action in the early months of the Parliament to implement provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 relating to rent charge arrears, building safety legal costs and the work of professional insolvency practitioners.
On 31 October 2024, the government commenced further building safety measures.
On 31 January 2025, provisions to remove the two-year qualifying rule in relation to enfranchisement and lease extensions came into force.
On 3 March 2025, the right to manage provisions (expanding access, reforming its costs, and voting rights) came into force and we published the Commonhold White Paper, which is a crucial first step in ensuring commonhold becomes the default tenure for flats.
On 4 July 2025, we published a consultation on Strengthening Leaseholder Protections for charges and services. It can be found on gov.uk here. It can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation seeks views on how to implement the relevant measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and includes proposals to extend aspects of it to social housing tenants.
We will publish an ambitious draft Leasehold and Commonhold reform Bill later this year.
For an overview of the government’s approach to leasehold and commonhold reform, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she will take to tackle the impact of furniture poverty on children in low-income families; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of furnished tenancies in social housing on reducing the impact of furniture poverty.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing furnished tenancies in social housing on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the new Decent Homes Standard will include a requirement that at least 10% of social homes are let as furnished.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is her policy that her Department's planned affordable housing will meet the (a) best practice guidance from the revised Decent Homes Standard and (b) best practice guidance on furniture provision.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of levels of furniture poverty in social housing in Manchester Rusholme constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help tackle levels of furniture poverty for people living in social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60503 on Housing: Construction, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) prevent future cost pressures on materials that may impact housebuilding targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is working with industry to ensure the housebuilding sector has access to the construction materials needed to build 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this parliament.
We expect suppliers to increase capacity to meet demand and there is evidence that they are doing so. For example, we have seen deliveries of bricks in England, Scotland and Wales increase by 23% in the year to May 2025.
Construction materials prices are stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025, far below the rate of inflation for the wider UK economy.
We will continue to closely monitor the cost of building materials.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to amend the local plan process to (a) include a stronger needs assessment for social housing across the plan period and (b) require local authorities to deliver against social housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government published a plan setting out the foundations for a decade of renewal in social and affordable housing. This is focused on delivering the biggest increase in supply in a generation, alongside a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of homes. The plan includes a “call to arms” to everyone with a role in social and affordable housing – including local authorities – to step up and prove they can deliver at scale and at pace.
We have asked all Council Leaders to examine what role they can play in reinvigorating council housebuilding. Councils will be able to bid for the new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which is the biggest long-term investment in social and affordable housing in recent memory – with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes as Social Rent. We also want to make it easier for councils to use their own resources and land to build more homes. For those without a Housing Revenue Account, we are reviewing the threshold of homes they hold at which they need to open one. We will exempt newly built social homes from Right to Buy for 35 years, ensuring councils are not losing homes before they have recovered the costs of building them. We are also allowing councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales with greater flexibility on how to spend them to accelerate and increase delivery of replacement homes.
We are helping councils borrow more cheaply from the Public Works Loan Board until the end of 2025-26 and with the LGA, the government has established a new Association of Directors of Housing to help councils collaborate and share best practice. We have also launched the Council Housing Skills and Capacity Programme, backed by £12 million of funding in 2025-26. This programme will be delivered in partnership with Homes England and the Local Government Association, to support councils to upskill their existing workforces, recruit and retain graduates to specialist housebuilding positions, and enhance their engagement with the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
The government’s revised National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that, in their role as local planning authorities, councils are responsible for establishing the need for affordable housing in their area – including for Social Rent homes in particular.
Local authorities who own social housing are required to meet regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing – including for the quality of accommodation they provide. As part of our commitment to ensuring that all social and affordable housing tenants can live in a warm and decent home, on 2 July we launched consultations on an updated and modernised Decent Homes Standard and on a new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard. These new standards would be binding on local authorities and other registered providers of social housing.
On 3 July the government launched the new Local Government Outcomes Framework, which represents a new approach to outcome-based accountability for councils in England. The Framework includes draft metrics on the year-on-year change in social rented dwellings held in local authorities’ Housing Revenue Account and the proportion of council-owned social housing deemed decent.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many active sites being developed by private housebuilders the Minister of State for Housing and Planning has visited since 6 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I have visited seven active development sites in a ministerial capacity since 6 July 2024 as per the table below. I have also visited a number of active development sites in my own constituency during that same period