Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is compliant with paragraph 6 of the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance on working with voluntary and community groups, and small businesses.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department assesses compliance with the Best Value Duty against the Best Value statutory guidance and intervention framework. Consultation is currently underway on this Government’s revised Best Value statutory guidance. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is subject to statutory Best Value intervention in response to a number of issues, including in the council’s partnerships, governance and use of resources. The Ministerial Envoys regularly report to Ministers on progress in improvement, which inform the Department’s ongoing assessment of the council’s compliance with its Best Value Duty.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, under the new National Planning Policy Framework, where an authority does not have a five-year supply or scores below 75 per cent in its most recent Housing Delivery Test, under what conditions a need for additional housing would outweigh the requirement for affordable housing as defined in national or Mayoral policies, or those of the relevant authority.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to question UIN HL2868 .
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what Local Government Boundary Commission for England guidance they will have regard to when considering submissions from individual councils on the proposed new unitary councils' (1) external boundaries, (2) number of councillors, (3) size of wards, and (4) distribution of wards; and whether this issue will be in scope of their review announced on 7 September.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.
I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their position on the maximum permissible variance in electorate between wards in the new unitary councils.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.
I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they anticipate the Higher Education Statistics Agency data on student accommodation for 2025—26 will be published.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), part of Jisc, is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. The information is shared with the department and includes data on student accommodation through the HESA student record.
The publication date for the 2025/26 HESA student record has not yet been confirmed. However, based on previous publication cycles, it is expected to be published around January 2027.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, under the new National Planning Policy Framework, where an authority has a five-year supply and scores above 75 per cent in its most recent Housing Delivery Test, under what conditions a need for affordable housing would permit a development outside the local plan and settlement envelope; and what the percentage of affordable housing would need to be for such a development to be considered.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in August 2026, introduces a revised presumption in favour of sustainable development which, in combination with new policies on development inside and outside of development boundaries, promotes a sustainable pattern of development. It does this by steering proposals to appropriate locations: maximising the use of suitable land within urban areas and taking a more selective approach to the types and locations of development outside settlements.
The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) and five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) policies are important mechanisms within the planning system to ensure homes are delivered in line with needs. Where an authority can demonstrate a 5YHLS and has achieved a HDT result of at least 75%, the presumption in favour of sustainable development would not be engaged through those policies.
While failing against either HDT or 5YHLS is a strong indicator of housing need in an area not being sufficiently met, it does not mean that planning permission for housing will be automatically granted, and local planning authorities must consider a range of factors when determining planning applications.
The NPPF also sets out that substantial weight should be given to the benefits of providing accommodation that will contribute towards meeting the evidenced needs of the local community, including those who require social and affordable housing.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, when they anticipate the dwelling stock data to 31 March 2026 will be published.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Dwelling Stock Estimates, England: 31 March 2026 accredited official statistics are scheduled for publication in May 2027 and are released annually. The exact date is decided closer to the time of release and is shared via the Department’s upcoming statistical releases page here once it is available.
Estimates of new housing supply are released quarterly and are available here.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an updated evaluation of the Help to Buy Scheme; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has commissioned an evaluation of Help to Buy which is due to be published this year.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (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 number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not collect data on the number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 principal barriers preventing shared ownership leaseholders from staircasing to full ownership.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.
As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.
The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.
To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.