Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given that statistics published in February 2026 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show that 175,990 children were living in temporary accommodation in England in September 2025, what assessment they have made of the impact of temporary accommodation conditions on children's health outcomes and healthy life expectancy, and what steps they are taking to reduce the length of time children spend in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children.
The Child Poverty Strategy and our National Plan to End Homelessness set out our commitments to eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in health care provision.
These include our commitment to eliminating the unlawful use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament, introducing a clinical code to improve data and prevent incidents in temporary accommodation, ending the practice of discharging newborns into B&B or other unsuitable shared accommodation, and providing proactive outreach to families in temporary accommodation.
We are tackling the root causes of homelessness building 1.5 million homes, including a generational increase in new social and affordable homes. We have set out a new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme backed by a £39 billion investment.
We are providing over £3.6 billion in funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29, which will help local areas deliver tailored solutions to tackle all forms of homelessness.
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, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pakistan, and further to Deposited Paper DEP2026-0218, committed on 27 February 2026, what was discussed in the six meetings with the Government of Pakistan; and how this related to departmental responsibilities.
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: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), how they plan to mitigate the risk of funding from the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund being concentrated among larger organisations with greater bidding capacity.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The risk of funding being concentrated among larger organisations is mitigated through the design of the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, as set out in the prospectus. Eligibility for the Fund is restricted to voluntary, community and faith sector organisations with a maximum annual income of £5 million. This limits access to small and medium sized organisations and excludes larger organisations.
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 4 March 2026 to Question 115420 on Affordable Housing: Housing Starts, what assessment his Department has made of the number of (a) affordable and (b) non-affordable homes starts that have been de-applied as starts in revisions since July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In June 2025, Homes England revised their figures for starts and completions from 2022-23 and 2023-24. Minor corrections have also been made to starts data published in November 2024 due to processing errors affecting First Homes units for 2023-24 provided via LAHS.
Details of the revisions made each year to the publication are available in the technical note corresponding to that year’s publication. Revisions made in 2024/25 are available on gov.uk here and revisions made in 2023/24 are available on gov.uk here.
Housing Supply: Indicators of new supply statistical releases always reflect the latest available data provided to my Department. All revisions are made in accordance with the policy for scheduled revisions as set out in Section 5 of its technical notes, which are available on gov.uk here.
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 held an immigration status conferring eligibility for social housing, including (a) refugee status, (b) humanitarian protection, (c) settled status, (d) pre‑settled status with a qualifying right to reside and (e) indefinite leave to remain.
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: 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: 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: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 ensure that new towns are built with adequate mobile connectivity infrastructure.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the public consultation on the proposed New Towns Programme and its environmental implications launched on 23 March 2026. This can be found on gov.uk here.
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.