Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Further to the Written Answer given on 9 April (HL15984), the £15 million for local authorities to test new approaches to reducing long-term rough sleeping has been allocated to areas facing the greatest long-term rough sleeping pressures.

Local authorities were selected based on both high absolute numbers and a high proportion of people experiencing long-term rough sleeping over the month. Further information on the local authorities provided with this funding is available here.

Local authorities and their partners are best placed to assess local needs and determine how funding can be used most effectively to reduce long-term rough sleeping in their areas. Areas receiving funding will be required to achieve a reduction in long-term rough sleeping, measured through the Local Outcomes Framework, and to improve the maturity of local systems for managing long-term rough sleeping. Each area receiving this funding will be required to produce a Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plan, which sets out how, with partner agencies, they will deliver system changes to address long-term rough sleeping.

Further to the Written Answer given on 9 April (HL15984), the £15 million for local authorities to test new approaches to reducing long-term rough sleeping has been allocated to areas facing the greatest long-term rough sleeping pressures.

Local authorities were selected based on both high absolute numbers and a high proportion of people experiencing long-term rough sleeping over the month. Further information on the local authorities provided with this funding is available here.

Local authorities and their partners are best placed to assess local needs and determine how funding can be used most effectively to reduce long-term rough sleeping in their areas. Areas receiving funding will be required to achieve a reduction in long-term rough sleeping, measured through the Local Outcomes Framework, and to improve the maturity of local systems for managing long-term rough sleeping. Each area receiving this funding will be required to produce a Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plan, which sets out how, with partner agencies, they will deliver system changes to address long-term rough sleeping.

The risk of funding being concentrated among larger organisations is mitigated through the design of the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, as set out in the prospectus. Eligibility for the Fund is restricted to voluntary, community and faith sector organisations with a maximum annual income of £5 million. This limits access to small and medium sized organisations and excludes larger organisations.

Homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children.

The Child Poverty Strategy and our National Plan to End Homelessness set out our commitments to eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in health care provision.

These include our commitment to eliminating the unlawful use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament, introducing a clinical code to improve data and prevent incidents in temporary accommodation, ending the practice of discharging newborns into B&B or other unsuitable shared accommodation, and providing proactive outreach to families in temporary accommodation.

We are tackling the root causes of homelessness building 1.5 million homes, including a generational increase in new social and affordable homes. We have set out a new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme backed by a £39 billion investment.

We are providing over £3.6 billion in funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29, which will help local areas deliver tailored solutions to tackle all forms of homelessness.

The role of National Housing Bank Chair is not a civil servant, regulated public appointment, special adviser, or a direct ministerial appointment.

The Chair is a non-executive director on the Board of Homes England and was appointed by that Agency, with the approval of the Secretary of State through a regulated public appointment.

The Chair’s remuneration is currently £60,000 per annum inclusive of their role on both the Board of Homes England and the National Housing Bank.

A declaration of interest was made by the Chair during their appointment to the Homes England Board. No declarations of political activity have been made.

The four interim advisers supporting the New Towns programme are independent advisers, engaged on a time limited basis through the Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) framework to provide specialist advice, challenge, and engagement support to the programme.

The roles are not civil servants, regulated public appointments, special advisers, or direct ministerial appointments.

The advisers are remunerated at a rate of £135 per hour and have been appointed for a fixed period of up to nine months.

As these advisers are not regulated public appointees or special advisers, they are not required to make formal declarations of political activity, and therefore such declarations are not held by the Department.

Following consultation, the Housing Ombudsman published its 2026-27 Business Plan on 15 April. Both the final Business Plan and a consultation response summary can be found on the Housing Ombudsman’s website here.

Fees will be increased to £9.64 per home in 2026-27 to deal with ongoing increases in demand.

The Business Plan also makes clear that in 2026-27 the Housing Ombudsman will undertake a discovery exercise on alternative fee models that recognise positive complaint handling to potentially replace the per home charge and will work with my Department to support an earlier consultation.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60128 on 4 July 2025.

My Department continues to work closely with the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunal Service to ensure that the justice system is well prepared for the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, including the potential impact of the Act on the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

This includes ensuring that suitable arrangements are in place for monitoring data relating to rent increase challenges in the Residential Property Tribunal.

The justice system will be supported with appropriate funding to ensure that the courts and tribunals have the resources and capacity they need to handle the workload that implementation of the Act will generate.

All other necessary work to prepare the justice system is expected to be completed by 1 May 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the public consultation on the proposed New Towns Programme and its environmental implications launched on 23 March 2026. This can be found on gov.uk here.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals to incorporate policies relating to traveller sites, currently set out in Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, within relevant chapters of the draft NPPF.

The consultation also included a proposed policy on retrospective planning applications and unauthorised development which sets out that if it is concluded, based on evidence, that the unauthorised development was intentional, that fact should be given substantial weight in considering whether to grant planning permission.

We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

The government publishes quarterly data on the number of applicants owed a prevention or relief duty where the reason for loss of last settled home was domestic abuse. This is available in tables A2P and A2R here. We do not publish separate data on the immigration status of applicants whose reason for loss of last settled home was domestic abuse.

The government publishes quarterly data on the number of applicants owed a prevention or relief duty where the reason for loss of last settled home was domestic abuse. This is available in tables A2P and A2R here. We do not publish separate data on the immigration status of applicants whose reason for loss of last settled home was domestic abuse.

In June 2025, Homes England revised their figures for starts and completions from 2022-23 and 2023-24. Minor corrections have also been made to starts data published in November 2024 due to processing errors affecting First Homes units for 2023-24 provided via LAHS.

Details of the revisions made each year to the publication are available in the technical note corresponding to that year’s publication. Revisions made in 2024/25 are available on gov.uk here and revisions made in 2023/24 are available on gov.uk here.

Housing Supply: Indicators of new supply statistical releases always reflect the latest available data provided to my Department. All revisions are made in accordance with the policy for scheduled revisions as set out in Section 5 of its technical notes, which are available on gov.uk here.

The impacts of introducing a visitor levy will depend on decisions taken locally. It would be for Mayors and local leaders to decide whether a levy is appropriate for their area, following local consultation on specific proposals.

The detailed design and scope of any visitor levy remain under development. The Government’s response to the consultation, which closed on 18 February, will be published in due course.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44485 on 22 April 2025.

Developers may be asked to provide contributions for infrastructure in several ways. Planning obligations, in the form of S106 agreements, should only be used where it is not possible to address unacceptable impacts through a planning condition.

The government is aware that the negotiation of S106 agreements can create delays in the planning process and increase costs for developers and local planning authorities. As per the Written Ministerial Statement made on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1286), the government intend to work closely with local planning authorities, registered providers and developers to deliver a series of measures that will provide for a simpler, more transparent and more resilient S106 system. These include a standardised template S106 agreement to speed up the process of drafting and concluding new S106 agreements.

Section 278 agreements may also be required where developers need to carry out essential highways improvements to facilitate their projects. It is important that both developers and highways authorities engage early on the works needed to support development proposals to ensure timely decisions

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge which can be levied by local authorities on new development in their area. The levy only applies in areas where a local authority has consulted on, and approved, a charging schedule which sets out its levy rates and has published the schedule on its website. Where CIL is in place for an area, charging authorities should work proactively with developers to ensure they are clear about the authorities’ infrastructure needs. My Department’s published guidance on CIL can be found on gov.uk here.

Any local planning authority that receives a developer contribution through CIL or S106 planning obligations is required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, ensuring a transparent and accountable system.

To support local planning authorities in negotiating and concluding agreements in a timely manner, the government is investing in their capacity and capability. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor announced a further £48 million of investment over three years to support local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners over a sustained period.

Of this, £28.8 million has been allocated to MHCLG’s Planning Capacity and Capability Programme, equating to £9.6 million additional per year for the next three years. This allocation will supplement existing budgets. This funding supports the recruitment of new planners and targeted skills development through the Planning Advisory Service, helping local authorities manage S106 and CIL processes effectively and accelerate infrastructure delivery.

The Affordable Housing Supply statistical release that my Department publishes is produced using a number of different sources. These include data from local authorities, Homes England and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The GLA and Homes England provide information in respect of individual developments, but this is only at the point they start or complete. As such, the data my Department publishes does not distinguish between developments where construction has started and is ongoing and developments where construction has started but has stalled or been abandoned.

The GLA expect all schemes will continue to proceed. In instances where that does not prove possible, they will ensure that all grant is recouped and reinvested in social and affordable housing.

The Affordable Housing Supply statistical release that my Department publishes is produced using a number of different sources. These include data from local authorities, Homes England and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The GLA and Homes England provide information in respect of individual developments, but this is only at the point they start or complete. As such, the data my Department publishes does not distinguish between developments where construction has started and is ongoing and developments where construction has started but has stalled or been abandoned.

The GLA expect all schemes will continue to proceed. In instances where that does not prove possible, they will ensure that all grant is recouped and reinvested in social and affordable housing.

We are taking action now to meet our target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament. This includes providing record levels of funding with £3.6 billion for homelessness prevention and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Councils will have more freedom and flexibility than ever before on how they use their funding.

We are also investing £15 million in our Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme to enable councils with the greatest pressures to deliver more personalised and comprehensive support for people with complex needs. We are supporting people into stable housing by investing £124 million in supported housing services and providing £37 million to our key partners working in the voluntary, community and faith sector to support recovery from homelessness.

The latest data shows that 3,175 people estimated to be sleeping rough over the month in December 2025 had been sleeping rough long-term.

Local authority estimates of business rates receipts are published by the department annually: National non-domestic rates collected by councils.

Business rates receipts for 2025-26 are estimated to be £29.5bn and £30.6bn for 2026-27. These figures exclude receipts from the central list. For 2027-28, estimates come from the calculations that support the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast. These show that local list receipts are estimated to be £31.5bn.

The estimated value of the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief can be found within the OBR’s Policy Measures Database. This is accessible via the following link: Data - Office for Budget Responsibility.

I refer the noble Lord to the answers given to the oral question Renters’ Rights Act: Definition of Court Readiness on Tuesday 24^th March 2026.

During local government reorganisation, Charter Trustees are a longstanding mechanism that may be established in unparished areas to preserve historical rights. They are dissolved when the Charter Trustee area becomes wholly comprised in one or more parishes. The creation of parishes is a matter for principal councils through the Community Governance Review process and the Government has no plans to change this.

The first phase of Awaab’s Law, which came into force on 27 October 2025, requires all social landlords to repair emergency hazards within 24 hours and fix dangerous damp and mould within fixed timescales.

My Department published a response to our consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes on 28 January 2026. It can be found on gov.uk here. As part of the new Decent Homes Standard, landlords will need to ensure that their homes are free from damp and mould.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including the development of under-utilised land and buildings to meet the need for homes and other uses.

Through the revisions we made to the NPPF on 12 December 2024, we broadened the definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and made clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas. The definition in question can be found in the NPPF glossary on gov.uk here.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included a range of proposals to further strengthen support for brownfield development. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

We have also announced £5 billion of land and infrastructure capital grant funding. This funding, to be administered by a new, single National Housing Delivery Fund that will complement investment from our National Housing Bank, can be used to address viability gaps on brownfield sites.

It nevertheless remains the case that there are simply not enough sites on brownfield land registers to deliver the volume of homes that the country needs each year and Green Belt land will consequently need to be released for development where individual local planning authorities determine that exceptional circumstances exist and have first demonstrated that they have examined fully all other reasonable options for meeting identified need for development – including making as much use as possible of suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land, optimising the density of development, and working with neighbouring authorities to assess whether identified need might be sensibly accommodated.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 94093 on 1 December 2025 and UIN 103333 on 14 January 2026.

We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.

Housing authorities have a duty to assess any eligible applicant who is homeless or at risk of homelessness. They must work with the applicant to develop a personalised housing plan with actions to be taken by the authority and the applicant to try and prevent or relieve homelessness.

We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.

We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.

Housing authorities have a duty to assess any eligible applicant who is homeless or at risk of homelessness. They must work with the applicant to develop a personalised housing plan with actions to be taken by the authority and the applicant to try and prevent or relieve homelessness.

We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.

We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.

Housing authorities have a duty to assess any eligible applicant who is homeless or at risk of homelessness. They must work with the applicant to develop a personalised housing plan with actions to be taken by the authority and the applicant to try and prevent or relieve homelessness.

We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.

We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government is providing more than £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people.

Housing authorities have a duty to assess any eligible applicant who is homeless or at risk of homelessness. They must work with the applicant to develop a personalised housing plan with actions to be taken by the authority and the applicant to try and prevent or relieve homelessness.

We have also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.

It is unacceptable that living situations are contributing to the tragic deaths of children. The Child Poverty Strategy and our National Plan to End Homelessness set out our commitments to eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in health care provision.

These include our commitment to eliminating the unlawful use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament, introducing a clinical code to improve data and prevent incidents in temporary accommodation, ending the practice of discharging newborns into B&B or other unsuitable shared accommodation, and providing proactive outreach to families in temporary accommodation.

Through our Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, we have been driving place-based good practice by working with local authorities with the highest use of B&B accommodation, backed by £10.5 million over two years. We will expand this work through an Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme, backed by £30 million over three years.

The government is providing £950 million of investment for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund – the largest investment in the fund to date - to support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of costly B&B and hotels.

Alongside this, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will provide the strongest protections in a generation, making sure vulnerable children are identified and supported. We are also introducing a new temporary accommodation notification duty, to inform schools and specified health providers when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, to allow additional or different support to be provided to these children.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 119470 on 23 March 2026.

Civil Servants are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Allegations of misconduct can be multi-faceted and have complex circumstances. Whistleblowing procedures include allegations of public interest and record whether an issue is deemed to be a Civil Service Code breach. To protect the personal data of employees, we do not report on small numbers of cases. The Department does not record the number of cases specifically relating to the Civil Service Code breaches outside of Whistleblowing procedures, but any allegations of such breaches are dealt with seriously as part of internal procedures.

All renters, regardless of tenure or agreement type, deserve to live in safe and secure homes.

Those with a licence to occupy accommodation are protected from eviction and harassment and have a right to report health and safety concerns about their property to the local authority.

A landlord may include an amount in the rent to cover the cost of utilities that a licensee uses. A landlord may also record the occupier’s consumption and recharge them for it. Where utilities are resold, maximum resale price rules apply (Ofwat’s for water and Ofgem’s for gas and electricity), unless the charge is included in the rent for the accommodation.

In October 2025, Ofgem issued a call for input on Reselling Gas and Electricity to assess whether current arrangements under the Maximum Resale Price provisions remain fit for purpose. It can be found here. Ofgem is considering the responses received and aims to publish a policy consultation on proposed changes in the summer.

Local authorities already have robust powers to protect people living in accommodation subject to selective or HMO licensing. This includes using licence conditions to help ensure landlords provide safe and well-maintained properties and have suitable management arrangements in place. We keep licensing regulations under review.

All renters, regardless of tenure or agreement type, deserve to live in safe and secure homes.

Those with a licence to occupy accommodation are protected from eviction and harassment and have a right to report health and safety concerns about their property to the local authority.

A landlord may include an amount in the rent to cover the cost of utilities that a licensee uses. A landlord may also record the occupier’s consumption and recharge them for it. Where utilities are resold, maximum resale price rules apply (Ofwat’s for water and Ofgem’s for gas and electricity), unless the charge is included in the rent for the accommodation.

In October 2025, Ofgem issued a call for input on Reselling Gas and Electricity to assess whether current arrangements under the Maximum Resale Price provisions remain fit for purpose. It can be found here. Ofgem is considering the responses received and aims to publish a policy consultation on proposed changes in the summer.

Local authorities already have robust powers to protect people living in accommodation subject to selective or HMO licensing. This includes using licence conditions to help ensure landlords provide safe and well-maintained properties and have suitable management arrangements in place. We keep licensing regulations under review.

All renters, regardless of tenure or agreement type, deserve to live in safe and secure homes.

Those with a licence to occupy accommodation are protected from eviction and harassment and have a right to report health and safety concerns about their property to the local authority.

A landlord may include an amount in the rent to cover the cost of utilities that a licensee uses. A landlord may also record the occupier’s consumption and recharge them for it. Where utilities are resold, maximum resale price rules apply (Ofwat’s for water and Ofgem’s for gas and electricity), unless the charge is included in the rent for the accommodation.

In October 2025, Ofgem issued a call for input on Reselling Gas and Electricity to assess whether current arrangements under the Maximum Resale Price provisions remain fit for purpose. It can be found here. Ofgem is considering the responses received and aims to publish a policy consultation on proposed changes in the summer.

Local authorities already have robust powers to protect people living in accommodation subject to selective or HMO licensing. This includes using licence conditions to help ensure landlords provide safe and well-maintained properties and have suitable management arrangements in place. We keep licensing regulations under review.

In May 2025, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built. It can be found on gov.uk here.

On the same day, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential developments, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. That consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

We are now analysing the responses to both consultations, and we will set out our next steps in due course.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals designed to ensure major development proposals are capable of being implemented within a reasonable period – taking into account tenure mix, local market conditions and development history of the site.

We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Both the Green Deal and the competent person schemes contain consumer protections but they work independently of each other. Therefore, work paid for through the Green Deal and carried out by a competent person scheme installer will benefit from both sets of consumer protections. The Department has done no recent research of the effects of competent person schemes on consumer protection for Green Deal participants.

The Green Deal is a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero policy. It was a loan scheme that existed to help people make energy saving improvements to their home that was mostly active during 2013-2015. The Green Deal has its own consumer protection system provided for by the Green Deal Framework Regulations and Code of Practice, and its own system of participant authorisation requiring certification of installers by the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body.

Competent person scheme operators register and oversee installers who can self-certify that their work meets the building regulations. These schemes have existed for more than 20 years and cover small building work such as plumbing and electricity. The scheme operators offer consumer protections such as ensuring registered installers are properly qualified and dealing with complaints.

The government is committed to strengthening protections for park home residents and improving the standards of park home site management. We will continue to keep the relevant legislation under review.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 63787 on 4 July 2025, UIN 115901 on 9 March 2026, UIN 63787 on 4 July 2025, UIN 114577 on 2 March 2026, UIN 110494 on 11 February 2026, and UIN 110492 on 11 February 2026.

The government has no current plans to legislate to prevent the use of terms in agreements requiring park home residents to pay variable service charges, but we will keep the matter under review.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 120420 on 19 March 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103008 on 13 January 2026.

The £37 million for voluntary, community and faith organisations (VCFS) will be allocated through a national grant programme (the Ending Homelessness and Communities Fund), via a competitive application process, as set out within the prospectus.

The government expects councils to be proportionate in the actions they take to recover debts and sympathetic to those in hardship.

The government has now published a response to its consultation on council tax administration setting out a package of reforms to the enforcement of council tax debts. These will deliver a fairer and more supportive system for taxpayers, reducing the number of households facing enforcement action. This consultation response can be found on gov.uk here.

The Government remains firmly committed to mayoral devolution and is forging ahead with it, including through the Devolution Priority Programme, but we have been clear that this model works best when built on firm foundations. That is why we have issued an invitation to all areas in England that do not have devolution to bring forward, with their neighbours, a proposal for a (non-mayoral) Foundation Strategic Authority. Existing non-mayoral Combined County Authorities will automatically be classed as Foundation Strategic Authorities on Royal Assent of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

Foundation Strategic Authorities will have a strong remit for driving growth, as well as key tools to do so in areas such as skills and transport. They will also help build institutional capability and partnerships at the regional level, as a stepping stone towards mayoral devolution in the future.

The process for an area moving from a Foundation Strategic Authority to a Mayoral Strategic Authority is being amended through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, subject to Royal Assent, and requires a proposal, a consultation, a decision on whether the necessary statutory tests have been met, and consent from the relevant authorities. Government will continue to work closely with areas as part of our ambition to widen and deepen devolution in England.