Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Affordable Housing Programme will have a funding stream for (a) renovating and (b) getting long-term empty homes back into use as affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement setting out the full details of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme as part of our plan to kickstart a decade of social and affordable housing renewal. It can be found on gov.uk here.
The new programme is designed to be flexible to support the greater diversity of supply needed, and we are asking providers to come forward with ambitious bids that reflect this diversity.
While the new programme will focus on the supply of new homes, it will also continue to support some regeneration schemes that provide a net increase in homes on a site. The programme will also allow for a limited number of acquisitions of existing housing stock, to support wider delivery while more rapidly increasing the supply of social and affordable homes.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department will make a decision on the funding of the ACM cladding remediation project at Northpoint Bromley.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG funded the cladding remediation project at Northpoint Bromley, including work required to remove the unsafe ACM, completed in 2024.
Our delivery partner, the Greater London Authority, has since submitted a funding variation request related to the defects liability period. This is progressing this through the Department’s funding governance processes and a decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations officials in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have made to the Greater London Authority about the 35- per-cent affordable housing quota.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 23 October the Housing Secretary and Mayor of London announced a package of targeted and temporary support to drive up housebuilding in London. This includes a new, time-limited planning route and consultation on the removal of some design restrictions which limit the density of development. For further detail, please see the Written Ministerial Statement made on 23 October 2025 (HCWS991).
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 his Department's publication entitled Delivering a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing, published on 2 July 2025, when he plans to set out an (a) timetable and (b) delivery plan for the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement setting out the full details of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme as part of our plan to kickstart a decade of social and affordable housing renewal.
The statement accompanies guidance to bidders from Homes England and the Greater London Authority. It can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 the Written Statement of 23 October 2025 on Housing Delivery, HCWS991, whether the £322 million City Hall Developer Investment Fund is additional government funding or from the existing Spending Review settlement for the Greater London Authority; and what is the estimated number of dwellings it will support.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The initial allocation of £322 million to establish the City Hall Developer Investment Fund comes from capital grant funding for land and infrastructure delivered through the new National Housing Delivery Fund announced at the June 2025 Spending Review.
The fund will enable the Mayor of London to take a more direct and interventionist role in unlocking new homes in the capital.
We are currently negotiating and agreeing an integrated settlement outcomes framework with the Greater London Authority which will agree their targets for delivery.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) social and (b) private homes were started in London in the first half of 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department publishes a quarterly release entitled ‘Housing supply: Indicators of New Supply, England’, which includes estimates of new build starts and completions in London. Statistics to the quarter ending June 2025 can be found in Table 217 on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 causes of the decline in the number of houses delivered in London this year.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
When it comes to development, London faces challenges that are common to all parts of England over recent years. These include a significant increase in building material prices; a rise in financing costs; and planning capacity and capability pressures.
In addition, the capital faces a number of challenges unique to its housing market which differs in important ways from the rest of the country. These include the fact that London is overwhelmingly reliant on flatted developments; has depended over recent decades on demand from international buyers and investors; and has a higher proportion of landowners (and traders acting on their behalf) who are global investors allocating development funding based on competing returns globally and across asset classes.
The government is acutely aware of the housing delivery challenge in London. We are committed to working in partnership with the Mayor of London, London Boroughs, and other partners to significantly increase rates of housebuilding in the capital as part of our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.
On 23 October 2025, the Secretary of State and the Mayor of London announced a new package of support for housebuilding in London. Details of that package can be found on gov.uk here.
This package sits alongside reforms to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) announced on 30 June 2025, including operational and policy changes to speed up decision making, particularly on building control approval and the introduction of an Innovation Unit and batching process. Early signs are positive with all applications in the Innovation Unit so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA target.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 15 October 2025 to Question 78195 on Housing: Greater London, whether his Department has had discussions with the Greater London Authority on the potential merits of (a) reducing the affordable housing quota in London to help encourage more housebuilding and (b) removing regulatory requirements in planning that only apply to London.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State on 23 October 2025 (HCWS991).
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) military families and (b) veterans will be served by the forces first housing scheme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Forces First approach will mean more Service personnel have access to the high-quality homes and home-ownership opportunities they deserve and will form part of the upcoming Defence Housing Strategy.
This approach will be applied by agreement with local authorities and development partners on a site-by-site basis, so it is not possible to estimate the number of military families or veterans who will currently benefit at this time.
A trailblazer for this approach is already underway at MOD Feltham in South-West London, where the MOD, the London Borough of Hounslow and the Greater London Authority have agreed to adopt a Forces First approach as part of a groundbreaking partnership to develop the site. Once vacated, this new development alone is expected to deliver hundreds of homes and jobs.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of military families who will be affected by the Forces First approach in each of the next three years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Forces First approach will mean more Service personnel have access to the high-quality homes and home-ownership opportunities they deserve and will form part of the upcoming Defence Housing Strategy. This approach will be applied by agreement with local authorities and development partners on a site-by-site basis, so it is not possible to currently estimate the number of military families who will benefit in future years.
A trailblazer for this approach is already underway at Ministry of Defence (MOD) Feltham in South-West London, where the MOD, the London Borough of Hounslow and the Greater London Authority have agreed to adopt a Forces First approach as part of a groundbreaking partnership to develop the site. Once vacated, this new development alone is expected to deliver hundreds of homes and jobs.