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, whether she plans to amend nationally described space standards for flats.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no plans to change the Nationally Described Space Standard at this time.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64086 on Local Government: Cost Effectiveness, if he will publish the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Corporate Peer Challenge report concerning the London Borough of Croydon has been published by the Local Government Association and the Council on their respective websites.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of funding the National Association of Local Councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government welcomes the work of the National Association of Local Councils to support and represent town and parish councils in England. The government has not assessed the merits of providing general funding to the National Association of Local Councils.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 is taking with local authorities to prevent (a) unlawful occupation of council-owned homes and (b) unlawfully attempting to purchase council-owned homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Housing fraud has a detrimental impact on those in genuine need of a home and is completely unacceptable.
Local authorities are responsible for managing their own social housing stock and where unlawful occupation of council-owned properties occurs, the government expects local authorities to take active steps to tackle fraud and ensure social housing is used fairly – this may include taking legal action.
When processing applications to purchase council homes through the Right to Buy, local authorities are required to check for unlawful and fraudulent applications. Where evidence of fraud is found, local authorities may pursue legal action.
On 2 July, the government published our response to the consultation on Reforming the Right to Buy, which can be found on gov.uk here. The government is considering what further steps could be taken to more effectively prevent fraud, including in relation to third-party backed applications.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63619 on Permitted Development Rights, which local authorities have issued Article 4 directions to remove the Class E change of use rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
46 local authorities have issued Article 4 directions for part of their area to remove the permitted development right which enables buildings in the Class E Commercial, Business and Service use class to change to residential use. These are:
City of London
Westminster
Kensington and Chelsea
Lambeth
Wandsworth
Camden
Tower Hamlets
Hackney
Islington
Windsor and Maidenhead
Bromley
Hillingdon
Kingston upon Thames
Richmond
Redbridge
Old Oak Common
Waltham Forest
Greenwich
Lewisham
Hammersmith and Fulham
Hounslow
Bexley
Broxbourne
Crawley
Manchester
Norwich
Milton Keynes
Harlow
Reading
Luton
Brighton and Hove
Rushmoor
Hertsmere
Stevenage
Three Rivers
Sefton
Dacorum
Welwyn and Hatfield
Waverley
North Hertfordshire
Watford
Colchester
Southwark
Brent
Tunbridge Wells
Basingstoke and Deane
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, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62406 on Social Rented Housing: Finance, whether targets have been set for the number of homes that will (a) started and (b) completed in each year of the programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60128 on 4 July 2025.
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, with reference to paragraph 45 of Annex 10 of the Impact Assessment for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, whether the requirement for 374,000 net additions per year from 2027 is referring to 2026-27 or 2027-28.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 55284 on 10 June 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) town and (b) parish councils that have taken on functions previously managed by (i) district, (ii) county, (iii) unitary and (iv) metropolitan authorities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There is no centrally held data on the total number of functions town and parish councils have taken on from principal local authorities.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 strengthen Section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 to prevent its circumvention through legal or administrative loopholes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In November 2024, the government consulted on further reforms to the Right to Buy.
A formal response to that consultation was published on 2 July 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here.
As part of that response, the government noted arguments put forward by local authorities and their representative groups to exempt properties in rural areas or areas with populations of 3,000 or less.
We will explore whether changes should be made to Section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 to better protect social and affordable housing in rural communities.
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, pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2025 to Question 59791 on Greater Manchester Combined Authority: Housing Investment Programmes, if he will publish the Facility Agreement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not publish commercially sensitive contract documents where publication could compromise effective programme delivery.
Summaries of the current terms and oversight of the programme are publicly available here and here.