Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish a wildfire strategy and action plan.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the increasing risk posed by wildfires and the importance of a coordinated, cross-government approach to prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are working closely with a wide range of partners to strengthen our collective approach to wildfire resilience.
We are taking action across critical areas such as response and national capabilities, forecasting, and risk assessment and ensuring these are drawn together into a coherent cross-government approach.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the issue of homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government set out our plans to tackle homelessness in England through the National Plan to End Homelessness in December 2025 which you can find on gov.uk here (attached).
Our Plan sets out actions to address the root causes of homelessness including building more homes, reforming renters’ rights, and tackling poverty. The Plan will also drive medium-term change to shift from crisis to prevention through cross-government targets, £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next 3 years and new duties on services to work together to prevent homelessness.
In the short-term, we will tackle the worst forms of homelessness by ending the unlawful use of B&Bs for families and tackling unacceptable temporary accommodation, including through our £30 million Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme. And we will halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament, including through £159 million new funding for supported housing, £37 million for voluntary, community and faith organisations, and £15 million for councils to test new approaches.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
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 publish details of the new batching model being trialled by the Building Safety Regulator to reduce the length of time taken to assess building control applications, including the number of applications being considered.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) publishes monthly data on Building Control Approval applications, including progress on the batching pilot launched in September 2025. Latest data, published in February 2026, showed average approval times for new cases of 18 weeks, representing an almost threefold improvement in processing times when compared to May-July 2025. More complex cases managed through Account Managers are taking around 25 weeks on average for approval.
The BSR has also addressed the backlog of legacy Gateway 2 applications through a substantial expansion of operational capacity and the integration of specialist expertise. These measures have strengthened decision-making, sped up the processing of both new‑build and remediation cases, and supported more efficient partnership working with industry.
In parallel, enhanced guidance, developed jointly with the Construction Leadership Council, is supporting applicants to submit clearer, higher‑quality applications that demonstrate compliance, helping to further reduce determination times.
There are currently four live Gateway 2 applications within the Stockport constituency (SK1–SK5): two remediation cases and two Category A applications.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, (a) what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog in Gateway 2 applications at the Building Safety Regulator and (b) how many Gateway 2 applications are outstanding for buildings in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) publishes monthly data on Building Control Approval applications, including progress on the batching pilot launched in September 2025. Latest data, published in February 2026, showed average approval times for new cases of 18 weeks, representing an almost threefold improvement in processing times when compared to May-July 2025. More complex cases managed through Account Managers are taking around 25 weeks on average for approval.
The BSR has also addressed the backlog of legacy Gateway 2 applications through a substantial expansion of operational capacity and the integration of specialist expertise. These measures have strengthened decision-making, sped up the processing of both new‑build and remediation cases, and supported more efficient partnership working with industry.
In parallel, enhanced guidance, developed jointly with the Construction Leadership Council, is supporting applicants to submit clearer, higher‑quality applications that demonstrate compliance, helping to further reduce determination times.
There are currently four live Gateway 2 applications within the Stockport constituency (SK1–SK5): two remediation cases and two Category A applications.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 March 2026 to Question 116476 on Political Parties: Finances, whether (a) hon. Members and (b) peers will have to undertake due diligence checks on political donations made directly to them.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Know Your Donor regime will introduce new risk-based due diligence checks on significant political donations. These rules will apply across the electoral regime, which includes members of the House of Commons and holders of relevant elected office as set out in Schedule 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 March 2026 to Question 116477 on Local government: elections, what his timetable is for establishing the claimant’s reasonable legal costs.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
An initial payment has been made, and the remaining costs will be determined in line with the usual processes.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with Stockport Council regarding the condition of Reddish Library.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has held no specific discussions with Stockport Council regarding the condition of Reddish Library.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is responsible for public library policy and the Libraries Improvement Fund. DCMS intends to publish a new English public library strategy later this year to emphasise and support their position at the heart of communities and their pivotal role in improving the lives of working people.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - 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 Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443) and the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 5 March (HL Deb col 585GC), what steps the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has taken in the last year to meet its legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation that falls within its area of responsibility should be brought into force.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The department regularly reviews its forward secondary legislation programme, including commencement orders for as yet uncommenced legislation.
In the last year the department has undertaken a number of separate exercises to review delivery of secondary legislation and to ensure it is being prioritised in line with our legal requirements and the Government’s priorities.
We will continue to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation relevant to our department’s work should be brought into force.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with HM Land Registry about improving processing times for applications; and whether they have set any specific targets for service improvement.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Improving speed of service remains a top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). Plans to achieve this are set out in the Agency’s Strategy 2025+ which was published on 5 November 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
As its sponsor department, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government holds HMLR to account for its performance and operational delivery and is in regular communication with HMLR about their processing times.
HMLR has been making improvements in this area through hiring and training more staff and by improving the efficiency of the services its customers use. The introduction of new pre-submission validation checks will speed up processes and reduce staff time spent on dealing with errors or mistakes. The age of outstanding post-completion applications is now under 12 months across all service lines, from a peak of 20 months in February 2023.
HMLR processing times are publicly available on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
Anyone who is concerned that a delay to their application may cause financial, legal, or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,400 expedited applications every day, with more than 95% actioned within 10 working days.
I recently wrote to the Chair of the Land Registry Board setting out the government’s priorities for HMLR on organisational performance over the coming year.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of the programme of new towns to be constructed in England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The precise funding offer for each new town location will be confirmed once final decisions have been made on the programme. Final decisions on locations will be confirmed later this year once the New Towns Draft Programme consultation has closed and all necessary environmental assessments have been completed.