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, pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2026, to Question 117748, on council tax, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the £150 + 5% council tax increases in each of the two years in those six local authorities, on the cost of living and financial sustainability of local taxpayers who are not eligible for local council tax support.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax levels are decided by local authorities, and as such the Department has not made a specific assessment on the impact of council tax levels on the cost of living for households who are not eligible for council tax support. The actual level of council tax remains a local decision for individual councils, who should take into consideration a range of local factors including the impact on taxpayers.
The government encourages taxpayers experiencing difficulty with their council tax bill to discuss their circumstances with their council.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for each of the past five years, what proportion of households in temporary accommodation were (a) UK nationals, (b) EU nationals and (c) non‑EU nationals.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG publish information on nationality of main applicants owed a homelessness duty. This is available in table A9 of our financial year datasets published on gov.uk here. We do not publish separate information on nationality of main applicants in Temporary Accommodation.
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 information the Land Registry holds on the average house price in each (a) local authority and (b) constituency in England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry publishes open data on prices paid for properties sold in England and Wales.
For customers who want aggregated price data for statistical analysis, the Standard Report Tool available here provides average prices and volume of sales.
This allows anyone to configure a report for various geographical areas in England and Wales, from the country level down to postcode sectors, and then download the data in a form suitable for use in a spreadsheet or other data analysis tool.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework on the ability of charitable housing providers to meet housing delivery requirements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, did not propose to amend the NPPF definition of affordable housing to include almshouses that are not registered providers.
The consultation did, however, invite views on a range of proposals to better support the provision of social and affordable housing.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is provided to police forces on the enforcement of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 in relation to the harassment of elderly or vulnerable residents by park home site owners.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The police are the enforcing authorities against harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Public Order Act 1986. Enforcement against harassment under the Caravan Sites Act 1968 is the responsibility of local authorities.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to collect data on the number of planning applications or appeals in which Grey Belt policy is cited.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department is currently exploring with local planning authorities ways in which data relating to grey belt land might usefully be collected. However, no decisions have yet been made.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the extent to which leaseholders are protected from unreasonable service charges and other costs passed on by freeholders.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 4 July 2025, the government published a consultation, jointly with the Welsh Government, on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. The consultation included proposals to increase transparency over service charges and enhance access to redress through the relevant provisions in the Act. It also proposed new reforms the section 20 ‘major works’ procedure. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. It closed on 26 September 2025, and we are analysing responses with a view to bringing the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible.
In addition, the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act, which came into effect on 28 June 2022, place caps on how much can be charged to leaseholders for certain historical life-critical safety defects. Guidance for leaseholders on those protections can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many affordable housing units have been built which have never been occupied because no housing association has taken them on.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold comprehensive, historic data on social and affordable homes that have been completed but remain unoccupied because a registered provider has not contracted with a housebuilder to acquire them.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1286) and the answer given to Question UIN 112630 on 2 March 2026.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
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 draft National Planning Policy Framework, whether almshouses and other charitable housing providers are treated as affordable housing for planning purposes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, did not propose to amend the NPPF definition of affordable housing to include almshouses that are not registered providers.
The consultation did, however, invite views on a range of proposals to better support the provision of social and affordable housing.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of producing guidance for local authorities on a) the opportunities to reallocate s.106 funding for stalled projects, and b) making it clearer to local authorities that reallocation is permissible.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 54059 on 6 June 2025.