Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Angela Rayner]

I am sure that those on the Conservative Benches have an interest in areas of natural beauty as well, and I am sure that the Minister for Housing and Planning will address this point when we discuss the Planning and Infrastructure Bill later today. We take natural beauty and history seriously, and we think that the Bill will be able to do nature recovery and enable us to build the houses that we desperately need.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind Members to look at the question on the Order Paper and make sure that their supplementary question is related to it.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

2. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold system.

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[Matthew Pennycook]

If I have understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, he pointed to how a variety of arrangements can be put in place under freehold estates; we need to capture that variety across the country. That is one of the challenges in looking at what measures we might bring forward to reduce the prevalence of such arrangements, and we certainly intend to do that.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

The last Government passed the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, supported by the then Opposition. Labour said in the King’s Speech that it would go further with reform and quickly. Then, the Minister said that would take the whole of this Parliament. Now, the secondary legislation needed, as well as the consultation pending, mean that leaseholders are unlikely to see any reform quickly. Last week, the Government said that primary legislation may now be needed without implementing the law already passed. Is that not just another example of the Government promising one thing but now flailing around, delaying and breaking key promises they made, while leaseholders across the country suffer?

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[Alex Norris]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the changes we have made to ensure that there are discounts on business rates for certain businesses this year, with further commitments to come at the Budget. He makes the right point. Of course I cannot announce that outside the Budget, but we will consider those points carefully.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)]

Our high streets and small businesses have been hammered by this Government, with big increases in the cost of business rates and national insurance contributions. Can the Minister tell the House what measures he and the team have put forward to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help our small businesses and high streets in the spending review?

[Alex Norris]

The hon. Gentleman offers me two opportunities there. First, we talk about challenges on the high street, but I remind the House of the more than a decade of starved demand because the economic policies of the Conservatives and all the impacts that had, followed by—[Interruption.] The stag do on the Opposition Front Bench are making their rattle as usual, but they were all present during that disastrous fiscal event that led to the increased costs that we are still coping with now. The second temptation the hon. Gentleman gives me is the opportunity to resign by leaking details of the spending review here first. Sadly, I will give no succour there.

[Mr Speaker]

Every high street needs a Chorley market. That is the answer.

[Charlotte Cane (Ely and East Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

5. What steps she is taking to ensure that new homes meet the minimum standard of EPC C rating.

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[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I will just say that supplementary questions should aim to relate to the original question. This is about funding in Scotland, so I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s question will be purely about that.

[Jim Shannon]

The Minister is right to point out the need for regeneration for towns in Scotland. Last week, the Government agreed in this Chamber to funding for England and Wales. That leaves only one part of the United Kingdom left out: Northern Ireland. [Laughter.] What will be done to ensure that Northern Ireland gets the same as the other three Administrations?

[Mr Speaker]

Just answer the Scotland bit please, Minister.

[Alex Norris]

The hon. Gentleman knows that I talk with my counterparts in all the devolved Governments, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, and I will continue to do so. The shared prosperity fund is a sign of our commitment in that direction. We will, I am sure, see future plans shortly.

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[Angela Rayner]

Coming back to the point that we do need housing, including social and council housing, we have been clear in the changes that we have been making, including in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, to ensure that that infrastructure is there, because that is one of the barriers leading to people rejecting some proposals because the transport connectivity and the facilities are not available. Therefore this Government are committed to ensuring we get the right type of development that supports local need and also, importantly, has the infrastructure alongside it.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

The Deputy Prime Minister has repeatedly stuck to her commitment that 1.5 million homes, including social homes, will be built over the lifetime of this Parliament despite everybody knowing that she will not achieve it. And today, the latest people to say she will not are Savills, who have forecast that the true number she will build over this Parliament is just 840,000, and that means fewer social homes too. Now that she has emerged from the dark rooms of the Treasury to capitulate to the Chancellor, will the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that more social homes and 1.5 million new homes will be built by the end of this Parliament: yes or no?

[Angela Rayner]

The Opposition cannot have it both ways: one way they are saying we are failing to build the homes; and the other way they are saying we are concreting over the green belt. We said that planning reforms alone will not deliver our ambitions, which is why we have committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation. And I say to the hon. Member, as I have said to many people in my life, underestimate me at your peril.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrats spokesperson.

[Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

Jess in my constituency had all her possessions and bags put on the pavement outside the hotel and was locked out of her bedroom with her baby by hotel management—shocking behaviour on their part. With £2 billion being spent by local authorities on temporary accommodation, would it not be better to have a national target for the number of social homes that are going to be built? What steps will the Government be taking to set such a target?

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[Jim McMahon]

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. On the calls that we have with MPs when we update them on these issues, his tone is quite different. We need to separate the rhetoric from the reality. The reality is that for the first time we had £600 million in the recovery grant, which was about those councils suffering high deprivation and historically low tax bases. Birmingham was the biggest beneficiary of that, receiving nearly £40 million.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)]

The Minister knows from his time at the Local Government Association of the impact that asylum has on the budgets of local authorities. With the Home Office’s much-vaunted increase in the grant rate for asylum claims, the Government are pushing thousands of households on to council waiting lists and shunting millions in costs on to council tax payers. What additional funding and measures does he aim to secure to help to mitigate those costs, which are affecting so many of our local authorities?

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[Angela Rayner]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The Government are committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure that new developments provide the necessary infrastructure that communities expect. We will set out further details in due course. Earlier I mentioned the changes to the national planning policy framework that were announced in December, and we will also support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

As the Secretary of State has said, Saturday marks the eighth anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy. As she knows, I can confirm to her that I will work constructively with her and her colleagues to deliver remediation, building safety and the best outcomes for local communities. The previous Government committed over £5 billion for remediation; will the Secretary of State confirm that the spending review will continue to provide such financial support? Will she also confirm that she will meet the previous Government’s pledge to co-fund with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea the renovation of the Lancaster West estate, and that the £85 million from central Government needed and promised to finish the works will be provided?

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[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

I do not blame my hon. Friend for trying, but for good reason we established an independent expert advisory panel—the new towns taskforce—to make recommendations to Ministers on the location and delivery of new towns. The taskforce will submit its final report to Ministers in the coming months.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

Residents in Wellington, in Castlemoat Place in Taunton and in Agar Grove—homebuyers—are just some of a sample who have come to me, raising the scandal of house builders not properly finishing the buildings they have created, leaving them unsafe. What steps will the Minister take to bring forward measures to ensure that house builders repair and make safe their properties urgently, without people having to wait years?

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[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

That is one of the reasons why the Surrey arrangement was accelerated. We recognised the lack of balance between the debt liability and the assets and incomes. We also recognised that the unitaries would have to be financially viable, and we are well on track to delivering that, in partnership with the local councils.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the enhanced protections for tenants in the Renters’ Rights Bill, but data from The Londoner shows that for London tenants, there is only one enforcement officer per 7,500 private rented homes. Given the new enforcement burdens that the Bill places on councils, will the Minister please ensure that they have the resources to protect private tenants?