Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential impact of trends in the cost of building materials on house building costs.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Construction costs have increased 52% over the past ten years. Prices are now stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025.
We are taking urgent action to support housebuilding and meet our mission to build 1.5m homes through bold planning reforms and a record £39bn investment to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 levels of homelessness relative to (a) levels of affordability of rented accommodation and (b) rates of local housing allowance.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A lack of affordable housing is a key driver of homelessness. This Government plan to deliver a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing, including with £39 billion funding for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
We recognise some private renters need support with their rent. That is why we will work across government to keep Local Housing Allowance rates under review in order to deliver on the government's priorities, including maintaining the long-term fiscal sustainability of the welfare system.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential safeguarding risk of unknown adults from the general public being on premises such as B&Bs and hotels along with families with children living in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is clear that B&B accommodation is never suitable for families with children and their use in emergencies should be rare and short. Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets a target to end the use of B&B accommodation for families with children by the end of this parliament.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of approaches to bringing empty residential properties back into use.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80458 on 20 October 2025.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on practices for the safe evacuation of high rise buildings in the event of fire as building heights increase to over 70 stories.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Responsibility for fire safety building regulations and evacuation both now sit within MHCLG policy responsibilities.
All new building work must meet the functional requirements of Building Regulations, including a means of warning and escape in case of fire to a place of safety outside the building that is capable of being safely and effectively used at all material times. In non-common building situations, which may include very tall buildings, a fire engineered solution may be necessary.
Government published Means of escape in residential buildings earlier this year; this analysis covers evacuation strategies in relation to high-rise residential buildings, taking into account building design, fire alarm systems and human behaviour.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 effectiveness of third-party campaigner regulations and levels of compliance in England.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners are subject to strict campaign spending limits at UK elections and transparency requirements.
As set out in our Strategy for Modern Elections, we are taking forward a package of measures to strengthen the rules around political finance, some of which will apply to third-party campaigners. This includes requiring recipients of donations to consider the risk of political donations being illegitimate, ensure political donors declare any benefit or sources of funding connected to their donation and tighten the rules around company donations by allowing them to donate only if they have a genuine connection to the UK or Ireland.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the social media and online platform income and donations by non-party political activists are published.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners are subject to strict campaign spending limits and transparency requirements at UK elections. Registered third-party campaigners are required to report all forms of donations related to their campaign activity above the relevant thresholds in their spending returns to the Electoral Commission. Electoral law only covers donations given specifically for regulated campaign activity; it does not cover general income or revenue, whether from social media platforms or other sources. As set out in our Strategy for Modern Elections, we are taking forward a package of measures to strengthen the rules around political finance, some of which will apply to third-party campaigners.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 give councils additional planning powers to help tackle unwanted uses such as barbers, vape shops and betting shops.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has no current plans to amend local planning authorities’ powers along the lines suggested.
The government is empowering communities to curate healthy, vibrant public spaces through the Pride in Place Strategy.
We have committed to introduce Cumulative Impact Assessments in respect of gambling licensing which will allow councils to take data-driven decisions on premises licences, particularly in areas that have been identified as being vulnerable to gambling-related harm.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government on improving community cohesion and building stronger local relationships between people from different backgrounds.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. As is precedent, details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly on gov.uk here.
The department also continues to work in partnership with local government, communities and stakeholders on improving community cohesion.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the number of domestic boilers sold in England against the number of installations reported to local authority building control.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Neither the department nor the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) hold figures on boiler sales.
Figures held by the BSR show 1,089,862 total gas appliance work notifications between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 under the Gas Safe Register scheme. Of this total, 1,039,920 was for central heating natural gas boiler installations. This is more than 95% of the total gas installation work. A much smaller number of other gas boiler installations, such as for water heaters or warm air heating appliances, were also registered.
The Gas Safe Register scheme is run by the Health and Safety Executive but the BSR has access to the scheme’s installation registration numbers.
The BSR regulates other installation schemes, also called competent person schemes, which include installation of non-gas types of boilers but neither the BSR nor the department hold figures specifically on non-gas boiler installations.
Local authorities must make available to the public details of building control notifications in their area including for boiler installations.