Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities follow best practice in commissioning domestic abuse services, including recognising the potential role of specialist community-based organisations.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to support victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the government’s wider mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade as set out in the Freedom from Violence and Abuse strategy published on 18 December.
Since 2021, local authorities in England have a statutory duty to assess local need and commission safe accommodation-based support for victims and their children. To support delivery of this duty, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided local authorities in England £160 million in 2025/26, a £30 million uplift from the previous year, and £499 million funding will be allocated to local authorities over the next three years.
Statutory guidance to local authorities is available on gov.uk here providing further details on how the duty should be delivered.
MHCLG continues to work closely with local authorities, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and sector partners to promote best practice, support delivery and drive continuous improvement in the commissioning of safe accommodation services.
Ensuring victims receive the right and timely support is also central to the Government’s mission. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years, and together with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) has published guidance here to help local commissioners in their role of supporting victims of all crime, including domestic abuse, focusing on sharing best practice and effective collaboration.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the affordability of ground rents in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to answer given to Question UIN 102566 on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 4 November 2025 to Question 85334 on Private Rented Housing: Construction, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of Build to Let developments on housing affordability in areas with high rental demand.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer given to Question UIN 85334 on 4 November 2025.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) housing providers, (b) housing associations and (c) arms-length management organisations with meeting the costs of regulatory standards for supported housing.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department consulted on a proposed licensing regime and standards for supported housing between 20 February 2025 and 15 May 2025. A government response to the consultation will be published as soon as possible.
The Department is working closely with supported housing providers and stakeholders to ensure that standards and licensing are proportionate and that implementation is carefully planned, to avoid any unintended consequences.
The Department will continue to work closely with supported housing providers and stakeholders as implementation of the measures set out in the Act proceeds.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in levels of (a) Hinduphobia and (b) anti-Hindu sentiment.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There was a 3% increase in police recorded religious hate crime in the year ending March 2025. Of the total number of religiously motivated hate crimes, 2% targeted Hindus (a total of 182 hate crimes).
We are committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion and we will not tolerate anti-Hindu hatred in any form. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion, and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this.
The Government also recognises that Hindus can experience anti-Muslim hate, and that the misidentification of Hindus as Muslims can compound the burden of religious hatred and discrimination faced by Hindus.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 Build to Let developments on housing affordability in areas with high rental demand.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such assessment.
The government is committed to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures and to supporting the Build to Rent sector.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that build to let developments contribute to local affordable housing quotas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure.
As part of this commitment, we are reviewing the planning practice guidance PPG on viability. That guidance currently recognises that the economics of Build to Rent (BtR) schemes differ from build for sale as they depend on a long-term income stream. As such, for build to rent it is expected that the normal form of affordable housing provision will be affordable private rent.
Where plan makers wish to set affordable private rent proportions or discount levels at a level differing from national planning policy and guidance, this can be reviewed through a viability assessment at the plan-making stage. This approach ensures that local planning authorities continue to maximise contributions towards affordable housing and community infrastructure, while supporting the delivery of viable developments.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is his planned timetable is for commencing the remaining provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244) and to the answer given to Questions UIN 68213 on 23 July 2025.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the total amount of revenue raised by local authorities via the use of debt recovery agencies in the last 12 months.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The Government does not collect data on the different collection methods used by councils, or the revenues collected by them. The Government does however publish data on the overall amounts of council tax and business rates collected and the total arrears for each financial year. This data is available here.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of repossessions by county court bailiffs there were in landlord cases in Stockport local authority area in 2023.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Government publishes quarterly statistics on repossessions by county court bailiffs in landlord cases, and the volume of accelerated possession claims in which the landlord had served a section 21 eviction.
The statistics can be accessed here.