Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been (a) destroyed and (b) damaged by wildfires in England in each year since 2020; and what estimate she has made of the proximity of unmanaged vegetation to those homes.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) does not hold data on the number homes that have been destroyed or damaged by wildfires, nor an estimate of the proximity of unmanaged vegetation to these homes.

MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England through the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP). This includes information on wildfires, including the number of wildfires broken down by month, fire and rescue authority and area burned, as well as information on wildfires involving casualties. Provisional data on wildfires has been published in an ad hoc data release covering 1 April 2010 to 31 August 2026 and can be found here: Provisional wildfire statistics for England, 2010 to 2026 - GOV.UK.

However, FaRDaP currently records any incident where a wildfire has spread to a home as a dwelling fire rather than a wildfire. Therefore, it is not possible to establish the number of homes that have been damaged by wildfire. FaRDaP also does not collect data on the proximity of vegetation to homes.

Work is ongoing to update the data collected in FaRDaP. An upcoming update to FaRDaP includes collecting information on “uncontrolled outdoor vegetation fire” as the cause of fire where an uncontrolled vegetation fire has spread to or caused a fire involving a dwelling. While this field alone does not confirm that the original fire was a wildfire, it could be considered alongside other wildfire criteria to help identify where dwellings have been damaged or destroyed as a result of a wildfire. The information collected through FaRDaP is regularly reviewed and updated in response to changing and developing priorities.