Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of housebuilding.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is taking concerted action to significantly boost housing supply in England including undertaking the biggest overhaul of the planning system in decades; speeding up the delivery of stalled sites through our New Homes Accelerator; and making the biggest boost to social and affordable grant funding in a generation.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence to generate objections to planning applications.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are aware of concerns that AI could be used to generate objections to planning applications, and the impacts this may have on local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate. We are considering this and the role of AI more generally in the planning system and want to ensure that an appropriate balance is reached.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether parish and town councils are permitted to spend the neighbourhood portion of Community Infrastructure Levy receipts on the cost of the neighbourhood plan process, including consultation, plan-writing, examination and referendum.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts must be used for the purposes which are set out in section 216 of the Planning Act 2008 and Part 7 of the CIL regulations.
Local authorities must spend the levy on infrastructure needed to support the development of their area. Where charging authorities collect the levy, they can use up to 5% of funds from the levy to recover the costs of administering the levy.
Where all or part of a chargeable development is within the area of a parish council, the charging authority must pass a proportion of the CIL receipts from the development to the parish council. The ‘neighbourhood portion’ of CIL can be spent on infrastructure or anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area.
Further information on spending the levy is set out in CIL guidance (attached) and which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of devolving powers to Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities to allow them to introduce overnight accommodation levies.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tax policy is a matter for fiscal events.
The Government keeps all tax policy under review.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning Inspectorate has consulted Wealden District Council on the application to use the Crowborough Training Camp for asylum seeker accommodation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate has no record of receiving an application or appeal in relation to the site in question.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 91420 on 20 November 2025.
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, with reference to the Answer of 17 September 2025 to Question HL10289 on England: Anniversaries, if he will make it his policy to support the recognition of the 1100th anniversary of England's establishment as a unified state.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Further to the response to HL10289 on 17 September 2025, MHCLG currently has no plans as we are not responsible for anniversaries of this type. All policy announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, How many housing development applications refused by local authorities have had decisions subsequently been overturned by planning inspectors in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The table below shows housing development applications refused by local planning authorities and subsequently overturned on appeal, as well as total housing development appeal decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate between the years 2015 and 2025:
Year | Total overturned | Housing development decisions |
2015 | 1,977 | 6,793 |
2016 | 2,621 | 9,063 |
2017 | 2,192 | 7,928 |
2018 | 2,018 | 7,256 |
2019 | 2,091 | 8,625 |
2020 | 1,466 | 6,618 |
2021 | 1,443 | 5,933 |
2022 | 1,392 | 5,492 |
2023 | 1,480 | 5,847 |
2024 | 1,561 | 6,353 |
2025 | 1,243 | 4,532 |
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
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 guidance on the minimum time and notice period required under section 293B(7) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Paragraph 60 of the government’s Planning Practice Guidance on Crown Development and Urgent Crown Development makes clear that once an application is ‘accepted’ under the Urgent Crown Development route the Secretary will notify the relevant local planning authority.
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 discussions he has had with landlord and tenant organisations on abolishing Section 21 no-fault evictions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engaged with a range of landlord and tenant organisations during development of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and looks forward to ongoing engagement with all stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this transformative Act.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has assessed the potential merits of introducing a statutory Code of Practice on the Sikh articles of faith to help prevent discrimination against (a) public sector workers and (b) users of public services.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government attaches great importance of correctly applying equalities legislation in the public sector to avoid discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, one of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regulates equality law across England, Wales and Scotland, and human rights across England and Wales, and is independent of government. It has published Code of Practice on Equal pay, Employment and Services, public functions and associations. These Codes of Practice provide individuals, businesses, employers and public authorities the information they need to understand the Act, exercise their rights, and meet their responsibilities, including on the basis of religion or belief.