Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is issued to local planning authorities on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation within residential areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet an area’s identified housing need, including with an appropriate mix of housing types for the local community.
Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
Specific guidance is not provided on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what impact assessment has been done for the removal of Sports England as a statutory consultee for the planning application involving playing fields.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 103087 on 13 January 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 6 January (HL13173), what assessment have they made of the impact on the retention of playing fields if Sport England's role as a statutory consultee for development is stopped.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system closed on Tuesday 13 January 2026, and can be found (attached) on gov.uk here.
No decision will be made on Sport England’s role until feedback on the impacts of the consultation proposals has been fully reviewed.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of existing planning regulations for considering the views of local residents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning regulations require local planning authorities to publish all planning applications for a minimum of 21 days to allow communities to provide their comments. Where relevant planning considerations are raised by local residents within this period these must be taken into account by the local planning authority. The weight attached to a particular consideration is a matter of judgement for the local authority as the decision-maker in the first instance.
The government considers that the existing statutory publicity and consultation requirements for planning applications strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring sufficient consultation with communities and an efficient determination period for the applicant.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to negotiate the harmonisation of the amount of time that UK nationals can spend in the EU under the 90 in 180 day Schengen rule with the amount of time that EU nationals can spend in the UK with her EU counterparts.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage the EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free, short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals.
The UK allows EU citizens visa-free travel for up to six months; the EU allows for visa-free travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period which is standard for third nationals travelling visa-free to the EU. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications which re-designate green belt as grey belt land there have been since December 2024; and how many of those applications were approved for each English region.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 ability of vulnerable groups to access planning consultations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Equality Act 2010, all public bodies have a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to have due regard to certain equality considerations when exercising their functions, this includes public engagements such as planning consultations.
Planning consultations are carried out through a range of methods and local planning authorities are required to publish these on their website. Public authorities must make their website accessible and publish and keep updated an accessibility statement on their website.
The duty should always be applied in a proportionate way depending on the circumstances of the case and the seriousness of the potential equality impact.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria will be used to assess whether a train station is well-connected for the purposes of a planning application receiving a default yes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 102319 on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how distances from train stations are calculated for the purposes of a planning application receiving a default yes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 102319 on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 press release entitled Housing Sec pledges to 'go further than ever before' to hit 1.5 million homes, published on 16 December 2025, what estimate his Department has made of the number of applications refused by councillors in England in each year since 2020.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not collect data on rates of refusal for planning applications made at planning committees.