Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, under the new National Planning Policy Framework, where an authority has a five-year supply and scores above 75 per cent in its most recent Housing Delivery Test, under what conditions a need for affordable housing would permit a development outside the local plan and settlement envelope; and what the percentage of affordable housing would need to be for such a development to be considered.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in August 2026, introduces a revised presumption in favour of sustainable development which, in combination with new policies on development inside and outside of development boundaries, promotes a sustainable pattern of development. It does this by steering proposals to appropriate locations: maximising the use of suitable land within urban areas and taking a more selective approach to the types and locations of development outside settlements.

The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) and five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) policies are important mechanisms within the planning system to ensure homes are delivered in line with needs. Where an authority can demonstrate a 5YHLS and has achieved a HDT result of at least 75%, the presumption in favour of sustainable development would not be engaged through those policies.

While failing against either HDT or 5YHLS is a strong indicator of housing need in an area not being sufficiently met, it does not mean that planning permission for housing will be automatically granted, and local planning authorities must consider a range of factors when determining planning applications.

The NPPF also sets out that substantial weight should be given to the benefits of providing accommodation that will contribute towards meeting the evidenced needs of the local community, including those who require social and affordable housing.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, when they anticipate the dwelling stock data to 31 March 2026 will be published.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Dwelling Stock Estimates, England: 31 March 2026 accredited official statistics are scheduled for publication in May 2027 and are released annually. The exact date is decided closer to the time of release and is shared via the Department’s upcoming statistical releases page here once it is available.

Estimates of new housing supply are released quarterly and are available here.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an updated evaluation of the Help to Buy Scheme; and if so, when.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has commissioned an evaluation of Help to Buy which is due to be published this year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they anticipate the Higher Education Statistics Agency data on student accommodation for 2025—26 will be published.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), part of Jisc, is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. The information is shared with the department and includes data on student accommodation through the HESA student record.

The publication date for the 2025/26 HESA student record has not yet been confirmed. However, based on previous publication cycles, it is expected to be published around January 2027.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their position on the maximum permissible variance in electorate between wards in the new unitary councils.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.

I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what Local Government Boundary Commission for England guidance they will have regard to when considering submissions from individual councils on the proposed new unitary councils' (1) external boundaries, (2) number of councillors, (3) size of wards, and (4) distribution of wards; and whether this issue will be in scope of their review announced on 7 September.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.

I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is compliant with paragraph 6 of the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance on working with voluntary and community groups, and small businesses.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department assesses compliance with the Best Value Duty against the Best Value statutory guidance and intervention framework. Consultation is currently underway on this Government’s revised Best Value statutory guidance. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is subject to statutory Best Value intervention in response to a number of issues, including in the council’s partnerships, governance and use of resources. The Ministerial Envoys regularly report to Ministers on progress in improvement, which inform the Department’s ongoing assessment of the council’s compliance with its Best Value Duty.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, under the new National Planning Policy Framework, where an authority does not have a five-year supply or scores below 75 per cent in its most recent Housing Delivery Test, under what conditions a need for additional housing would outweigh the requirement for affordable housing as defined in national or Mayoral policies, or those of the relevant authority.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to question UIN HL2868 .

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether guidance has been issued to valuation officers from the HMRC Valuation Office regarding their behaviour during an internal inspection of a dwelling to gather property attribute data for a council tax valuation, including regarding whether they should take their shoes off if asked to do so by the householder.

Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC's Valuation Office does not publish guidance on property inspections for Council Tax purposes. However, staff undertaking property inspections are provided with guidance on professional conduct, which states that inspections should be carried out in a tactful, courteous and respectful manner and that occupiers should be treated with consideration and respect.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of council housing sales have contributed to the construction of new social and affordable housing over each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Net receipts arising from Right to Buy sales received by local housing authorities between 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2017 could contribute up to 30% to the authorities’ expenditure on replacement social housing.

The same type of receipts received between 01 April 2017 and 31 March 2019 could contribute up to 40% to the same type of expenditure.

The same type of receipts from 01 April 2019 onwards can contribute up to 100% to this expenditure.

The number of new build completions funded through Right to Buy receipts can be found in Live Table 693 which can be found on gov.uk here, while the total number of new build completions of affordable housing can be found in Live Table 1009 which can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 13 July (HL1406), whether they intend to publish the technical specification of the data that is requested from local housing authorities on local authority housing waiting lists via continuous recording of lettings by local authorities data; and whether they have reviewed the data collection in this regard given its accredited official statistics status of the social housing lettings in England publication.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Data on the number of households on the housing register (waiting lists) is collected as a snapshot at 31 March each year via the Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS). While commentary on the findings is included in the Social Housing Lettings statistical release, no data on housing registers is collected via the Continuous Recordings of Social Housing Lettings.

The latest guidance for the LAHS is published on gov.uk here. The LAHS data is quality assured by my department’s statisticians, as per the publication’s technical notes and in line with Code of Practice for statistics. The latest available are the 2024-25 technical notes which can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on that body adopting the Government’s definition of anti-Muslim hostility.

Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government frequently discusses relevant matters with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Commission is an independent statutory body, and decisions on adoption of the definition are a matter for the Commission.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the constitutional status of Cornwall within the United Kingdom, other than as a (1) unitary council, and (2) a potential strategic authority area.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government recognised the Cornish as a national minority under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014, recognising this unique culture and heritage. This status does not prevent it from accessing devolution and Government would ensure that this status would be preserved in any future devolution arrangement.

The Government’s ambition is that every area in England has, or is in the process of establishing, a Strategic Authority by the end of 2027, with Strategic Authorities in place everywhere by the end of 2028. The Government recently wrote to all areas without a Strategic Authority seeking confirmation of their devolution ambitions, including their preferences regarding mayoral or non-mayoral devolution. Cornwall Council has set out their preference and we will be confirming next steps to areas soon.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 6 August (HL2668), what public interest reason there is for not publishing the presentations received from councils, elected representatives, and political groups regarding the planned cancellation of the May 2026 local elections.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

A summary of the representations received was published here. The Government currently has no plans to publish the individual representations received.

Found: Letter dated 23/09/2026 from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage to Lord Jamieson regarding an oral question