Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to increase the supply of one-bedroom social housing for young people in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has held no recent discussions with local planning authorities regarding specific barriers to delivering one-bedroom social rented homes for young people.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 101227 on 7 January 2026.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the Government’s target to build 1.5 million new homes, will be one-bedroom social homes, suitable for young people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has held no recent discussions with local planning authorities regarding specific barriers to delivering one-bedroom social rented homes for young people.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 101227 on 7 January 2026.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to remove the requirement for developers to provide social and affordable housing on medium-sized sites, including the effect on the number of homes delivered through section 106 planning obligations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The draft Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, retains a strong preference for, and commitment to, on-site delivery of social and affordable housing, reflecting the benefits this provides in terms of the delivery of mixed communities, controlled land prices, and secure cash flow for developers of all sizes.
However, for the reasons outlined in the consultation, the government decided to explore further the potential benefits and drawbacks of enabling developers to discharge social and affordable housing requirements through cash contributions in lieu of direct delivery in the category of “medium” sites. In its fullest form, this approach would mean it was entirely at the applicant’s discretion as to whether to provide social and affordable housing on-site or via a cash payment in lieu.
My Department has made no assessment of the impact that this approach would have on the overall number of social and affordable homes delivered through S106 agreements or on rates of housebuilding more generally.
However, the consultation makes clear that further consideration of this policy proposition would have to take into account its impact on the government’s manifesto commitments to strengthen the existing developer contributions system and to deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. It would also have to account for the need to ensure payments reflect an appropriate value, and the imperative that such payments could be spent effectively and quickly so as not to push social and affordable housing delivery timescales far into the future.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to remove the requirement for developers to provide social and affordable housing on medium-sized sites on the delivery of housing in rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The draft Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, retains a strong preference for, and commitment to, on-site delivery of social and affordable housing, reflecting the benefits this provides in terms of the delivery of mixed communities, controlled land prices, and secure cash flow for developers of all sizes.
However, for the reasons outlined in the consultation, the government decided to explore further the potential benefits and drawbacks of enabling developers to discharge social and affordable housing requirements through cash contributions in lieu of direct delivery in the category of “medium” sites. In its fullest form, this approach would mean it was entirely at the applicant’s discretion as to whether to provide social and affordable housing on-site or via a cash payment in lieu.
My Department has made no assessment of the impact that this approach would have on the overall number of social and affordable homes delivered through S106 agreements or on rates of housebuilding more generally.
However, the consultation makes clear that further consideration of this policy proposition would have to take into account its impact on the government’s manifesto commitments to strengthen the existing developer contributions system and to deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. It would also have to account for the need to ensure payments reflect an appropriate value, and the imperative that such payments could be spent effectively and quickly so as not to push social and affordable housing delivery timescales far into the future.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities in England on barriers to delivering one-bedroom social homes for young people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has held no recent discussions with local planning authorities regarding specific barriers to delivering one-bedroom social rented homes for young people.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 101227 on 7 January 2026.
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, if he will publish the Environmental Principles Assessment for the (a) December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework and (b) 2026 to 2036 Affordable Housing Programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I will deposit a copy of the relevant documents in the House of Commons Library.
The hon. Member should note that there are some redactions to the assessment for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-2036 that fall within the exception to disclosure at regulation 12(4)(e) and 12(4)(d) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on considering potential changes to national planning policy to enable joint Housing Delivery Test scoring in areas with aligned spatial strategies across multiple local planning authorities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the correspondence sent to her on 16 March.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will set out what support his Department and Cabinet colleagues makes available to local authorities to develop community energy schemes, local food production and emergency preparedness plans.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the recently published Local Power Plan, Government recognises that limited capacity and capability are major barriers for local government to participate in small-scale energy projects. Backed by up to £1 billion and working in partnership with local government, Great British Energy (GBE) has committed to support at least 1000 local and community energy projects by 2030.
The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes of the Good Food Cycle. We know the best solutions often come from the ground up. That is why the Good Food Cycle sets the ambition to use local community initiatives to harness a stronger food culture to support our health, sustainability and resilience outcomes.
Improving the food environment will support healthier and more environmentally sustainable food sales, and access to all for safe, affordable, healthy, convenient, and appealing food options. Defra is developing a programme of work to support local, hyper-local and community-based interventions around access to healthy and affordable food in priority locations.
MHCLG and CO run a local capabilities assessment programme which assesses emergency preparedness planning for specific response capabilities across the 38 Local Resilience Forums (LRFs). This work helps inform national government on local preparedness gaps and identify actionable areas for improvement.
The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) places a duty on all local authorities to cooperate with other agencies (e.g. police, fire & rescue, health), operating as a Local Resilience Forum, to prepare and maintain plans for the key risks facing their area. In addition, local authorities are expected to have business continuity plans that will assist them to continue to operate when emergencies impact them directly.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consultation his Department has had with local planning authorities on section 78c of the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department consulted on changes to policy in respect of 5-year housing land supply as part of the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework that took place between 30 July and 24 September 2024. Paragraph 78c was introduced in the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework update.
A government response, which can be found on gov.uk here, was published alongside the updated Framework. It made clear that there are many authorities whose local housing need figures will be substantially larger than their adopted or emerging local plan housing requirement figures, indicating a significant unmet demand for new homes in these areas. To help close the gap, we are introducing a new requirement that authorities with plans adopted under the old standard method must provide an extra year’s worth of homes in their 5-year housing pipeline.
As such, those authorities whose adopted plan annual housing requirement figure is 80% or less of their annual local housing need figure will be required to add a 20% buffer to their 5-year housing land supply from 1 July 2026. This window will give these authorities time to make provision for the new policy. As with other housing supply buffers, this will not be cumulative, so those authorities who are already required to add a 20% buffer due to scoring below 85% in the most recent housing delivery test will not be required to add an additional buffer should they meet these criteria.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
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 national planning policy supports the delivery of specialist and adaptable housing for older people by almshouses, community-led and charitable housing providers, including small charities that are not registered providers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, proposed a number of changes to support the delivery of specialist forms of accommodation such as housing for older people and accessible housing.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.