Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the statement on X by the Minister for Housing and Planning on 31 January that the Government could not commence the "relevant enfranchisement provisions" in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 until specific flaws within the Act were rectified, what specific flaws he was referring to; what plans they have to rectify these flaws through legislation; whether the Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Bill contains those legislative proposals; and if it does not, for what reason they are not included.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended and that need to be rectified via primary legislation.
The Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 HLWS240 (attached) outlined two flaws regarding a loophole in the valuation scheme set out in the Act, and an omission on shared ownership lease extensions.
Primary legislation will also be needed to address the following flaws:
As set out in the WMS of 27 January 2026 HLWS1278 (attached), the government will rectify these flaws in primary legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Minister for Housing and Planning’s statement on 27 January (HC Deb col 750) that an immediate peppercorn cap on lease payments “could carry significant risks”, what are those risks; what assessment of those risks have been made by (1) the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, and (2) the Treasury, and if they will publish these analyses; what meetings ministers have had with representatives of freehold estates and pension funds since taking office; and what risks, if any, they consider an immediate peppercorn cap poses to building remediation and safety.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is capping ground rent at £250 per year, before changing to a peppercorn in 40 years. These measures, as set out in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, deliver on the manifesto commitment to “tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges” and “bring the feudal leasehold system to an end”. This policy will directly address cost of living pressures for leaseholders, and issues with buying, selling and mortgaging properties with high ground rents, before ending ground rents for good.
We recognise that these reforms will have a significant impact on freeholders and investors, but the government considers this is a justified and proportionate intervention to address harms and deliver a fair and effective housing market. We have taken investors’ concerns into account when developing this policy, which we believe strikes a fair balance between leaseholders, freeholders and those invested in ground rents.
For further information, I refer the Noble Baroness to the (attached) Policy statement on ground rents published on 27 January 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the concerns raised by the Resident Freehold Association that capping ground rents could cause a significant number of professional freeholders to become insolvent and impact remediation on up to 12,000 buildings.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is capping ground rent at £250 per year, before changing to a peppercorn in 40 years. These measures, as set out in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, deliver on the manifesto commitment to “tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges” and “bring the feudal leasehold system to an end”. This policy will directly address cost of living pressures for leaseholders, and issues with buying, selling and mortgaging properties with high ground rents, before ending ground rents for good.
We recognise that these reforms will have a significant impact on freeholders and investors, but the government considers this is a justified and proportionate intervention to address harms and deliver a fair and effective housing market. We have taken investors’ concerns into account when developing this policy, which we believe strikes a fair balance between leaseholders, freeholders and those invested in ground rents.
For further information, I refer the Noble Baroness to the (attached) Policy statement on ground rents published on 27 January 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Minister for Housing and Planning’s statement on 27 January (HC Deb col 750) that there is a difference between regulating the creation of new leases and affecting existing contracts and investments, what is the legal basis for this analysis, and what role the ECHR has had, if any, in informing this analysis.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
When considering reforms to leasehold, the government naturally takes account of number of factors including the right to peaceful enjoyment of property under Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. The courts have held that the government has a wide margin of appreciation in this area, including when making changes that have a purely prospective effect on existing leases.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Minister for Housing and Planning’s statement on 27 January (HC Deb col 753) that the Government do not plan to implement a service charge cap but that existing provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 would be “switched on at the earliest possible opportunity”, what assessment they have made of when the referred to provisions will be used.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 closed on 26 September 2025. We are analysing responses, including on service charges, and will bring the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposal to cap ground rents before changing to a peppercorn after 40 years in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Through the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published on 27 January 2026, the government is proposing to cap ground rent at £250 per year, before changing to a peppercorn in 40 years.
We estimate around 770,000 to 900,000 leaseholders pay over £250 per year in ground rent and will save money this Parliament. Leaseholders across nearly 4 million properties pay a ground rent in England and Wales. We estimate they will save a total of £10-12.7bn over the policy’s lifetime as a result of this change.
For further information, I refer the Noble Baroness to the Written Ministerial Statement HLWS1278 on 27 January 2026 (attached), and to the Policy statement on ground rents (attached) published on that date.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that council officers and councillors are held to account for significant public failings on the part of local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government is committed to ensuring that local government is empowered, fully accountable and deserving of people’s trust and confidence.
Councils must fulfil the Best Value Duty when delivering their responsibilities. Government uses a range of statutory and non-statutory intervention models in cases of failure or risk of failure. In cases of Commissioner-led intervention, where appropriate, this can include powers to appoint and dismiss senior staff.
The Government Response to the Strengthen the Standards and Conduct Framework consultation for Local Authorities in England published on 11 November 2025 sets out our ambition to introduce a clearer and consistently applied conduct system that will help local elected members to hold themselves and their colleagues to account in meeting the high standards and conduct their roles demand and the public have a right to expect. We intend to legislate on local government standards reforms when parliamentary time allows.
Council officers and members may also be subject to investigation by relevant bodies if suspected of serious misconduct, including the police and Serious Fraud Office.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the London Plan 2021 on the number of houses built in London.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Section 346 of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999 places a duty on the Mayor to monitor the implementation of the Mayor’s London Plan. The second Annual Monitoring Report under the 2021 Plan, was published in September 2025 and showed that housing completions reduced in 2022-23. You can find the Annual Monitoring Report published by the Greater London Authority here: Monitoring the London Plan | London City Hall.
The Government recognises that London housing delivery is below the level of housing need in London and below the annual target set out in the London Plan 2021. To address this, the Secretary of State and the Mayor of London announced a new package of support for housebuilding in London in October 2025. I refer the Noble Baroness to the Written Ministerial Statement published on 23 October 2025 (HLWS989).
The Mayor is currently working on a new London Plan, with consultation on a draft expected in summer 2026. The Government will work with the Mayor to ensure that the next London Plan is ambitious and aligned with our priorities set out nationally through the National Planning Policy Framework.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Housing on 5 February 2024 (HC8158), what proportion of the budget for social and affordable housing is spent on (1) Ukrainian and Afghan refugee and guests schemes, (2) asylum seekers, (3) migrant workers on the shortage occupation list, (4) dependents of such migrant workers, (5) workers on the health and social care visa scheme and (6) non-UK citizens.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is not a single budget for social and affordable housing. Most of the income for social housing providers come from rent paid by tenants, some of whom have help from the welfare system to pay it. New social and affordable homes are typically funded by a mix of subsidy from government grant programmes, or through Section 106 agreements in planning permissions, combined with borrowing by landlords against future rental income.
Completed new social homes are allocated to new tenants by local authorities, unless agreed otherwise. Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme for social housing within the framework of legislation.
Eligibility for social housing is tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Asylum seekers and migrants in the UK on work or student visas are not eligible for social housing.
Data is available for all social housing lettings in England. This data does not include details of official refugee or immigration status, or route into the country. However, it does include details of nationality, based on the self-reported nationality of the lead tenant. The data shows that between April 2024 and March 2025:
These figures are publicly available (attached) in Social housing lettings in England, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Housing on 17 January 2024 (HL9067), how many full time equivalent staff currently work in the self-commissioned homes delivery unit in Homes England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are currently three full time employees in the Self Commissioned Homes Unit of Homes England.