Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the demand for housing in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland and (c) Newcastle.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament.
Indicative local housing need figures both for local authorities and regions under the revised standard method can be found on gov.uk here. Indicative figures have not been provided for Hexham constituency, as it falls under Northumberland County Council.
The standard method is used by local authorities to inform the preparation of their local plans. Once local housing need has been assessed, authorities should then make an assessment of the number of new homes that can be provided in their area. This should be justified by evidence on land availability, constraints on development, such as National Landscapes and areas at risk of flooding, and any other relevant matters. The approach taken is then tested by the Planning Inspector during the examination of the Local Plan.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the proportion of planning applications rejected by Councils in each of the last five years, broken down by controlling political party.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of houses in urban areas which have been rejected for planning permission since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of houses that have been rejected for planning permission in Greater London since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 make an estimate of the proportion of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 make an estimate of the proportion of planning applications which have been rejected in each of the past five years in London.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many homes in the Poole constituency will be (a) modernised and (b) upgraded under the Defence Housing Strategy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At this stage, we are unable to confirm how many Defence Homes will be improved within the Poole constituency.
Currently, planning is at relatively high level across the whole estate which tells us that around nine out of ten Defence homes will need to be modernised or upgraded under the implementation of the Strategy over 10 years, in a carefully planned renewal programme.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the 60% of affordable homes provided through the new route at social rent are not renegotiated out at a later stage in the development process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 23 October 2025, the Secretary of State and the Mayor of London announced a new package of support for housebuilding in London. Details can be found on gov.uk here. A consultation on these London-specific measures will be launched in November 2025.
The package includes a new, time-limited planning route, which will sit alongside the Greater London Authority’s existing Fast Track and Viability Tested routes. This new route is designed to encourage schemes to come forward, and existing schemes to progress, in the near-term, in order to support a rapid recovery in housing delivery.
In order to access this time-limited route, schemes will be required to provide at least 20 per cent affordable housing, with a minimum of 60 per cent social rent (and the rest intermediate tenures in line with London Plan policy). Boroughs will be expected to consider applications that meet these minimum levels. This route will be available until 31 March 2028 or the publication of the revised London Plan, whichever is earlier. All planning decisions on applications will need to have been issued by the local planning authority by the deadline.
A gain-share review mechanism will be applicable where construction on the scheme has not reached a fixed milestone by the end of March 2030 – meaning that if additional returns result from improved market conditions, these benefit fairly both the developer and the community.
Any proposed reductions in affordable housing will be subject to full viability assessment and will no longer be eligible for the time limited planning route. In this case a review would then apply regardless of whether the delivery milestone was met to determine whether additional affordable housing contributions can be provided if viability improves over the lifetime of the development.
In respect of existing schemes, the GLA encourages partners to deliver affordable housing in excess of 20 per cent where possible, especially where planning consents are in place, and will make grant available at or above the announced benchmark grant rates for such projects where it provides value for money to do so. Projects consented at 35 per cent or more affordable housing, that are currently stalled due to viability reasons, are encouraged to assess the availability of grant where this is needed to support delivery and to increase the level of affordable housing above this. For bids providing less than 35 per cent affordable housing, where the grant requested is higher than the said benchmarks, the GLA will require Additionality Viability Assessments to be undertaken. In all cases, the GLA will undertake checks to ensure that any grant allocated is compliant with subsidy control rules
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) when and (b) how often they can issue legal stop notices in relation to the housing of asylum seekers in their areas.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Planning enforcement action is not a matter for the Home Office. This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
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 walking, wheeling and cycling routes on disused railways to access to new housing sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The provision of walking, wheeling and cycling routes plays an important role in new developments and has wide ranging benefits, including reducing impacts associated with traffic, as well as supporting health and wellbeing.
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that transport issues should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals, using a vision led approach to identify transport solutions that deliver well-designed, sustainable and popular places.
This includes identifying and pursing opportunities to promote walking and cycling, which could include routes on disused railways, to help ensure safe and suitable access to new housing sites for all users.