Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending building regulations to require future accessible and adaptable dwelling to include (a) step-free entrances and (b) wet rooms.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognizes the importance of ensuring that new housing is accessible and adaptable to meet the diverse needs of individuals throughout their lives. Accessibility standards for homes are governed by Part M of the Building Regulations 2010, which set out requirements for reasonable access and use of buildings. The Building Regulations are not retrospective; they apply only to new homes or those undergoing a material change of use.
There are three standards of accessibility prescribed in the Building Regulations: M4(1), M4(2), and M4(3). M4(1) is the current standard, ensuring reasonable provision for people to access and use the dwelling and its facilities. Optional standards M4(2) and M4(3) provide enhanced accessibility, with M4(2) requiring features such as a living area and step-free access at entrance level, wider doorways and corridors, and clear access routes to windows. Homes built to M4(2) standards also offer greater potential for future adaptability. M4(3), the highest optional standard, ensures that homes can be easily adapted to meet the needs of wheelchair users.
Everyone should be able to access a home that is suitable for them and meets their needs. That is why providing a range of safe and suitable accessible housing is part of the Government's ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. Offering those with mobility challenges a better choice of accommodation supports independent living, fosters community connections, and reduces health and care costs.
Planning rules already require councils to consider the needs of disabled people when planning new homes. The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), issued in December 2024, promotes mixed-use and mixed-tenure developments, which can include housing designed for specific groups. Local authorities are expected to assess the size, type, and tenure of housing needed for different groups in their communities, including older people and those with disabilities, and to reflect this in their Local Plans. Such an approach supports the creation of diverse communities and the timely delivery of housing. The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2024 to Question 1176 on Park Homes: Sales, what her policy is on the longstanding concerns about the regulation of park home sites and the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The park homes sector is an important part of the housing market.
The government recognises that there are longstanding concerns about the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home.
We will set out plans in due course to seek further evidence from the sector on the rationale for the commission.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of numbers of local authority planning officers to support planning reform.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.
At the Budget, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. A proportion of this funding will be used to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities, including the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners and developing the skills needed to implement reforms and unlock housing delivery.
This will be further underpinned by increases in planning fees that will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can fund the skills they need.
More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 5.149 of the Autumn Budget, whether receipts from right to buy sales (a) are ringfenced for new council housing or (b) can be used for general spending by local authorities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At the Budget on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor confirmed that local authorities can now retain 100% of their receipts from Right to Buy sales.
Approximately 65% of these receipts are conditionally retained by councils on the basis that they will be used for replacement social housing and approximately 35% may be used for any capital purpose, including for replacement housing.
In our recent Reforming the Right to Buy consultation, we sought views from local authorities and other stakeholders on simplifying the rules governing the use of Right to Buy receipts. We are analysing responses to that consultation and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will issue guidance to local authorities on priority need for housing for people living with HIV.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 19575 on 20 December 2024.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for banning Section 21 evictions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July, the Government will bring forward a Renters’ Rights Bill as a priority. The Bill will level decisively the playing field between landlord and tenant and end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.