Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government under what circumstances they expect the use of the powers in the Renters' Rights Bill to change the date from which a new rent is payable in rent appeal cases brought before First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government is committed to empowering tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases, to protect tenants from undue financial hardship and prevent rent hikes being used as a form of backdoor eviction once Section 21 notices have been abolished.

We recognise that there is inherent uncertainty as to the volume of rent increase challenges that will be brought when the tenancy reforms in the Renters’ Rights Bill come into force. This is why we have put in place a proportionate safeguard for use in circumstances where it has become clear that the Tribunal system is on course to be overwhelmed.

We intend to use the power if the Tribunal appears at risk of being overwhelmed by a sharp increase in challenges and it has become necessary to avoid lengthy delays for genuine cases to be heard. It will be subject to the affirmative procedure, to allow appropriate parliamentary scrutiny.

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 22 July 2025 to Question 68060 on Islamophobia, whether the Working Group has had a meeting with MCB; and whether they have received evidence from the MCB.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Working Group is an independent, non-statutory body which will provide advice to ministers on a definition of anti-Muslim hatred/islamophobia. Ministers will consider the advice that the independent working group provides.

The Working Group have engaged with a range of stakeholders and proposed definition by the independent Working Group should reflect a wide range of perspectives from different communities. The terms of reference set out that the Working Group should work within HMG’s published engagement standards. The Government has a non-engagement policy with the MCB and that position has not changed.

The Group launched a Call for Evidence to build on the extensive engagement they’ve already undertaken. It was open to the public and any individual or organisation was able to submit evidence.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the British Muslim Trust will be contractually obliged to use the Government's new definition of Islamophobia when recording anti-Muslim hatred under Combating Hate Against Muslims fund; and if he will publish a copy of the contract.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The British Muslim Trust and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have signed a Grant Funding Agreement, rather than a contract. It is not a stipulation of the Grant Funding Agreement that any specific definition is used by the British Muslim Trust. The prospectus set out that to apply for funding an organisation must ‘be willing to record and monitor instances of anti-Muslim hate crime in such a way that is consistent with the government’s working definition of anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia, should the government choose to adopt a definition in future’.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will place a copy in the Library of the House a copy of the letter of 11 November 2024 to Chief Executives of local authorities on out-of-area accommodation placements.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to question UIN 14450 given on 20 November 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with faith leaders regarding recent Islamophobic hate crimes against Muslim communities and mosques since August.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government is committed to building a Britain where all communities feel safe, and where the contributions of people of faith and belief, including Muslims, are warmly welcomed. The government protects the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship. There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at places of worship and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.

The government works with partners to combat religiously motivated hatred, including by taking steps to safeguard Muslim places of worship and faith schools, providing £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme. We are providing funding for the British Muslim Trust to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims. The government has also established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much capital funding has been allocated to the first year of the 2026–2036 Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Spending Review 2025 policy paper (which can be found on gov.uk here) sets out that spending on our new £39 billion, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (2026-27 to 2035-36) will reach £4 billion per year in 2029-30 and rise in line with inflation subsequently.

As a result government spending on affordable housing investment will almost double by the end of this Parliament.

The government does not usually publish year-by-year spend on specific programmes in advance. We will continue to publish past year’s expenditure figures in the department's Annual Report and Accounts

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the proposed Chinese Embassy development at the Royal Mint in London, whether they have contacted the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to obtain (1) the security statement, and (2) the blast assessment, which were not placed before the planning inquiry.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not comment on live planning cases.

Where potentially relevant additional information is drawn to the Department’s attention during the decision-making process, it is routine for its potential relevance to be assessed, including consideration of whether it is necessary to obtain that information or refer back to parties.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the (1) district council, (2) delayed county council, and (3) existing unitary council, elections scheduled for May 2026 in the Greater Essex area will be cancelled; and if so, whether they will be replaced with (a) a Mayoral Combined County Authority election in May 2026, or (b) a new unitary council election in May 2027.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead, unless there is strong justification. In May 2026, we intend that mayoral elections for new strategic authorities will take place, subject to parliamentary approval for the necessary legislation, alongside those district and unitary elections already scheduled and elections postponed from May 2025. The government will work with areas to hold elections for new unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation. We anticipate elections to new unitary authorities in May 2027.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that political finance law cannot be changed for partisan advantage.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK electoral system. As set out in our Elections strategy paper, we are introducing tougher rules on political donations to protect UK elections, striking the right balance between safeguarding against foreign interference while making sure legitimate donors can continue to fund electoral campaigns.

Our reforms build on recommendations from expert stakeholders such as the Electoral Commission and the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Any proposed changes will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny through the Bill process.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether London is on track to deliver its share of the target to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government has set a target of 88,000 new homes per year in London through the new standard method and remains committed to working in partnership with the London Mayor, boroughs, and wider stakeholders to achieve a step change in building in the capital.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that their intention to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 by spring 2026 does not cause an increase in homelessness and rough sleeping; and what plans they have to offer additional financial support to local authorities in England to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Vagrancy Act 1824 does nothing to tackle the root causes of homelessness, which is why we will be the government which repeals this punitive legislation.

At the same time, homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.

The government have already taken the first steps to getting back on track to ending homelessness, including making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233 million increase on the previous year.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the leasehold property system and what plans they have to reform it; and what assessment they have made of the case for making commonhold the primary model of ownership for flats in England and Wales.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024, for far too many leaseholders, the reality of home ownership has fallen woefully short of the dream. As set out in our manifesto, we are determined to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end, reinvigorate commonhold and take the first steps towards making it the default tenure by the end of this Parliament.

Draft legislation and a consultation on the best approach to banning new leasehold flats will be published later this year.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the marches in London led by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in September, what assessment they have made of the security concerns and fears experienced by diverse communities, and what specific support and reassurance they are providing to those impacted.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather and to demonstrate their views, provided that they do so within the law. However, there is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking strong action against those crimes.

The police have a range of powers to deal with any behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to others. They also have the power to impose conditions on protests where they reasonably believe the protest may result in serious disorder, serious damage to property, serious disruption to the life of the community, or where the purpose of the protest is to intimidate others.

The government continues to work closely with police and community partners to strengthen protections for communities and challenge hatred. This includes providing up to £50.9 million of funding this year to protect faith communities and safeguard places of worship. We also work with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.

This government is absolutely committed to protecting our communities and making our streets safer, and we refuse to allow the intolerance of a few to impact the lives of our diverse communities.

Found: University College London [ESH0082] Miss Georgina Schueller [ESH0084] Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support to the charitable work of the Church of England.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

For millions of people in this country, their faith and belief identity is a crucial part of their lives, and our nation is enriched by our diverse tapestry of faiths and beliefs. This government celebrates the central role of faith, including the Christian faith, in our national life. Churches, such as the Church of England, contain many Christians whose faith guides their moral outlook and inspires them to public service and helping those in need.

This government is committed to harnessing the power of faith for national renewal, helping us to make progress against our missions. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is funding a number of cohesion and interfaith projects this financial year, including the Near Neighbours programme delivered by the Church Urban Fund, a charity affiliated with the Church of England.

Over the last year, my own department has been delivering the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is a £25.5 million fund to support VCSE organisations across England to save money on energy bills. The fund was designed to help groups with rising energy costs and was targeted at those delivering key frontline services. Recipients of the fund have included over 40 churches and faith-based organisations.

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Found: Quarterly Housebuilding Return September 2025 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

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Found: between the Home Office (HO), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

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