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 14 January 2026, to Question 103288, and further to Deposited Paper DEP2026-0218, committed on 27 February 2026, for what reason the (a) Overseas Pakistanis Convention and (b) external meeting with UNHCR was not listed in the quarterly transparency return of the Minister of meetings with external organisations.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Rt Hon Member, as a former Foreign Secretary, will know that it is the long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on private diplomatic meetings.
Paragraph 16 of the Guidance on Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance), sets out the types of external engagement that would not automatically be classed as meetings, including events such as conventions and conferences.
The former Minister has, however, requested that his transparency return has been updated to include the meeting with UNHCR.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have rolled out Microsoft Copilot across the Department to enhance efficiency and support the work of all staff, including policy professionals. The rollout was accompanied by training and guidance which states that all work produced by AI must be checked with an appropriate level of rigour to ensure trustworthiness, reliability, and to avoid bias.
Copilot is used by staff across the department including legislation and policy teams. The department is clear that document authors are fully accountable for policy judgement and conclusions and compliance with departmental, legal, and information governance, irrespective of whether or not AI has been used to assist with drafting.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of simplifying the definition of affordable housing types set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
To reflect this government’s priorities, the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December 2024 includes a separate definition of Social Rent so that it is not referred to as just one of a number of types of affordable housing for rent.
We have no current plans to further simplify the definition of affordable housing types set out in the NPPF.
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 23 March 2026, to Question 120664, on Travellers: Caravan sites, how the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework on traveller sites are a material consideration in the application for a possession order in relation to land that the travellers do not own but are residing on without the landowner’s permission.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for each of the past five years, what proportion of households who left their last settled home due to domestic abuse were (a) UK nationals and (b) non‑UK nationals.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
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 26 November 2025 to Question 92754, on Rents: Appeals, whether (a) suitable arrangements for monitoring data relating to rent increase challenges in the Residential Property Tribunal and (b) all other necessary work to prepare the justice system has been or will be completed prior to implementation of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on 1 May 2026.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 letter from the Secretary of State to the Leader of HM Opposition, dated 21 March 2026, how much and what proportion of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme is currently funded in the Spending Review.
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: 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 his department's press release of 22 March 2026 entitled Seven new towns proposed to kickstart housebuilding push, whether the (a) chair of the National Housing Bank and (b) four interim advisers are (i) civil servants, (ii) regulated public appointments, (iii) special advisers or (iv) direct ministerial appointments; what their remuneration is; and whether they have made declarations of political activity.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of a visitor levy on the number of young people employed in hospitality.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
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 3 February 2026, to Question 108220, on Affordable Housing: Greater London, whether affordable housing starts in London are tracked from start on site to competition, to ascertain that they are (a) actually delivered and (b) not stalled.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.