Lord Bailey of Paddington

On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, local government representatives, leading technology companies and others to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves. The Summit resulted in commitments from the police to work in partnership across force boundaries as well as in collaboration with local partners such as Trading Standards and other local authority resources to tackle this criminality. This collaboration is ongoing.

In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geo-location tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will also place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles to provide a more visible and effective service to the public, with each neighbourhood having named, contactable officers dealing with local issues, including the theft of mobile phones.

The Metropolitan Police will receive up to £3.8 billion of funding in 2025-26. This is a £262.1 million increase when compared with the 2024-25 settlement, equating to a 7.4% cash increase and 4.9% real terms increase.

The Home Office is currently working closely with the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, to further understand the force’s recruitment and budget challenges, and ensure that the force is taking every step available to prevent further reductions in headcount and increase officer numbers.

On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together law enforcement and leading tech companies to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves.

The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft to build a comprehensive picture of the problem and better understand the role of organised crime networks.

To aid police investigations and recovery of stolen goods, our Crime and Policing Bill also includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geolocation tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant.

Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles to provide a more visible and effective response, including in response to the activities of mobile phone thieves operating in our communities.

Decisions about police resourcing are a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables and directly elected local policing bodies, such as Police and Crime Commissioners and Mayors exercising PCC functions.

The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by volunteers in policing. Volunteers enhance the effectiveness of policing by bringing diverse and valuable skills that complement the roles officers and staff play in delivering the best service to the public.

Police forces are responsible for running their local volunteering programmes, including volunteer police cadet schemes.

The annual Lord Ferrers Awards ceremony, which will take place on 5 December, is organised by the Home Office to recognise the time and effort that volunteer police cadets and other volunteers contribute to their local communities.

The proposals in the Fair Funding Review 2.0 are subject to consultation and decisions have yet to be taken that will determine final allocations and the design of transitional arrangements. These proposals will target central government grant where it is needed most and we expect that the vast majority of councils with social care responsibilities will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the multi-year Settlement.

We are also inviting views on a package of transitional arrangements available over the multi-year Spending Review period. For those councils who would see their funding fall as a result of these changes, our intention is to protect the vast majority of these councils’ income through a ‘flat cash’ (or 0%) funding floor. The consultation is live until 15th August. We will publish further information in the consultation response in autumn, followed by the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.

While short-term lets can benefit local economies, the government appreciates that excessive concentrations in some areas of the country can impact on the availability and affordability of homes to buy and rent, as well as having a detrimental impact on local services.

That is why we remain committed to introducing a national mandatory registration scheme for short-term lets, which will give local authorities access to valuable data to help address housing impacts and to protect the spirit of our communities. Public testing on the register is due to start in September. This means that we are on track to launch a full version of the scheme by next year. From April 2025, the furnished holiday lettings tax regime was abolished, eliminating the tax advantages that short-term let owners had over private rented sector landlords.

We are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets.

We have always been clear that building 1.5m homes is an ambitious target – which is vital given we have inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory. It will require a rate of housebuilding and infrastructure construction not seen in over 50 years. We recognise the scale of the challenge, and we are taking bold action to deliver the homes our country needs and unlock economic growth, but it will take time before that translates into delivery.

The department does not hold data on Metropolitan Open Land, which is entirely a matter for the Mayor.

The information requested is not recorded in that form. However, our general statistical estimates do record the hectarage of Green Belt land within each local authority that is in Non-Developed Use and Developed Use. These are available here.

For other information on Metropolitan Open Land and Green Belt, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer in the other place to Question 53097 of 28 May here.

Delivering historic levels of housebuilding in London is a critical part of this government’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes within this parliament.

At the Spending Review, the Chancellor confirmed £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. Our ambition is to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme’s lifetime.

Up to 30% of the funding over the programme (up to £11.7 billion over the 10 years) will be delivered by the GLA to use in London. We will set initial targets for Homes England and the GLA after we have received bids from providers, and will review these targets through the lifetime of the new programme to drive progress towards our ambition. It is our intention to publish a full prospectus for the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme in autumn 2025 and open it for bids in the winter.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will remove fixed term assured tenancies, to strengthen tenants’ rights and provide them with more flexibility.

Good landlords have nothing to fear from the reforms. The sector has doubled in size since the early 2000s and there is no evidence of an exodus since reform has been proposed.

Tenants are unlikely to end tenancies unless they absolutely have to. Moving house is expensive and disruptive. Where tenants do end tenancies, they will be required to provide landlords with two months’ notice, to give time to find new tenants.

The majority of housing association tenants are lifetime tenants with assured tenancies, and therefore already enjoy a high security of tenure.

The Renters' Rights Bill will abolish fixed term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies. This change will enhance the security and stability for the minority of tenants with private registered providers who currently lack assured (lifetime) tenancies. Landlords will also benefit from clear and expanded possession grounds to evict tenants in circumstances where that is justified and reasonable.

The government published its Impact Assessment for the Renters’ Rights Bill on 22 November 2024, following scrutiny from the Regulatory Policy Committee. The Impact Assessment received a ‘green’ rating, indicating it is ‘fit for purpose’.

The impact assessment can be found on gov.uk here.

Primary legislation provides that homes in London that are liable for council tax may be let for temporary sleeping accommodation for up to 90-nights in a calendar year. Planning permission is required to let for more than this number of nights. We have committed to introduce a register of short term lets which will help local authorities to apply and enforce these rules. We understand the challenges presented by short term lets and continue to consider further action.

The responsibility for the overall distribution of housing need in London lies with the Mayor, who considers an overall strategy for London's growth and development capacity through the statutory London Plan. Local authorities must assess and plan how to meet their local housing targets over the plan period, justified by evidence on land availability and constraints on development.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects strategic policy-making authorities, like the Greater London Authority, to take account of the national standard method when assessing local housing need, which incorporates a baseline of local housing stock adjusted upwards to reflect local affordability pressures. The local housing need for each London borough as calculated through the national standard method can be found here on GOV.UK.

We are committed to providing a multi-year funding settlement starting in 2026-27. This will be the first multi-year settlement since 2016 and will provide local authorities with the certainty they need to focus on their priorities.

The most recent English Housing Survey results, published on 28 November 2024, show that proportion of private rented sector (PRS) households in London which are part of the private rental market has increased from 27.4% in 2018-19 to 31.8% in 2023-24. Over the past 5 years data on dwelling stock shows that there has been an increase in the number of PRS properties in London. Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants) - GOV.UK

Our Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The most recent homelessness statistics release reported between April and June 2024, 1,100 Londoners were put at risk of homelessness because they received a Section 21 eviction notice. By implementing the long overdue abolition of Section 21 evictions, this government will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.

However, homelessness levels in London and across the country remain far too high. This is why the government has committed to developing a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all. This includes a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, bringing together ministers from across government.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing the impact of a selective licensing scheme on their area. This may include the impact of licence fees on local rents.

Local authorities have discretion to charge fees which cover the cost of running selective licensing schemes. They may also offer discounts on fees to reduce costs for landlords. The government expects local authorities to make details of these fees, along with the rationale behind their determination, transparent and readily accessible.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing the impact of a selective licensing scheme on their area. This may include the impact of licence fees on local rents.

Local authorities have discretion to charge fees which cover the cost of running selective licensing schemes. They may also offer discounts on fees to reduce costs for landlords. The government expects local authorities to make details of these fees, along with the rationale behind their determination, transparent and readily accessible.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer to Question UIN 11851 on 8 November 2024.