Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish data on the number of traveller caravans on unauthorised developments on land (a) owned by travellers and (b) not owned by travellers by local authority in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on the number of traveller caravans on unauthorised sites on land (a) owned by travellers, i.e. unauthorised developments, and (b) on land not owned by travellers, i.e. unauthorised encampments, by each local planning authority is available from Live Table 1 of the published Official Statistics on gov.uk here. The Table in question presents data for the last six counts. However, data going back to 2015 can be found in the same table of previous releases.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what timetable his Department has set for laying secondary legislation relating to deferment and capitalisation rates under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103549 on 14 January 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278).
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
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 holds data on the number of incidences of traveller caravans on unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers being used to provide accommodation for undocumented migrants.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold this data. The Traveller Caravan Count includes data on the number of caravans and traveller sites in England. It does not include the number of occupants residing in these caravans or caravan sites, nor their characteristics.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 the availability of affordable housing options for young people on low incomes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 104603 on 19 January 2026, and UIN 87891 on 11 November 2025.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what transitional arrangements apply to leaseholders pursuing enfranchisement claims while awaiting implementation of the new valuation framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103549 on 14 January 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken towards bringing the provisions in the Freehold Reform Act 2024 into force.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103549 on 14 January 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278).
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
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 is taking to protect local democracy when changing the referral criteria to require Local Planning Authorities to notify the Department where they intend to refuse an application for 150 homes or more.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The power to call in planning applications is a long-established one. Decisions on call-in are a question of jurisdiction and not a view on the merits of any given application.
The policy on call in, as set out in a Written Ministerial Statement of 26 October 2012, is unchanged.
The proposed requirement for Local Planning Authorities to refer additional applications will not mean that all such applications will be called in.
All decisions on planning applications, whether called in or not, are made in line with the development plan for an area, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide the evidence base used to determine that 800m is the appropriate radius for station-based Green Belt release.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
The draft NPPF includes policies that would allow for suitable development (including housing and mixed-use) around railway stations offering high levels of connectivity, recognising these as relatively sustainable locations. It makes clear that such development should be limited to land physically well-related to the station and within reasonable walking distance of it.
Reasonable walking distance is not quantified in the consultation document itself but following the Oral Statement I made on 16 December 2025 I referenced 800 metres (approximately 10 minutes at moderate walking speed) as the government’s working assumption of how it might be defined.
The consultation seeks views on all aspects of the policy, including how reasonable walking distance should be defined. It is available on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Natasha Irons (Labour - Croydon East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the average time taken to complete cladding remediation works on residential buildings of approximately 20 to 25 storeys; what evidence underpins an estimated 24-month completion timeframe for such projects; and whether he will publish a percentage breakdown of remediation projects completed within 18 months, within 24 months, and beyond 24 months.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department’s data collection is focussed on height thresholds as this is the current determinant of programme eligibility. We expect buildings of 20 to 25 storeys to make up a very small proportion of those requiring remediation.
Based on the reported remediation start and completion dates, and storey information provided for the 24 buildings known to be 20 to 25 storeys, which have completed remediation and for which start and end dates have been reported, the average time taken to complete remediation on site is 24 months.
The Department does not work to an assumption on the time take to complete remediation of buildings of this height group (20 to 25 storeys) - and does not currently publish information on the time taken to complete remediation.
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 British High Commission Islamabad news story of 17 April 2025, which individuals and external organisations Lord Khan met during his visit to the (a) Overseas Pakistanis Convention, (b) Faisal Mosque and (c) St Joseph’s Cathedral whilst on his official Ministerial visit to Pakistan.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A summary of the former Minister’s schedule will be placed in the Library of the House.