Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 21 January 2026 to question UIN 104660, what the average time was between receipt of a regulation 21 change control application by the BSR and notification of the applicant of the approval of the application.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Notifiable or Major Change notifications are added to existing applications which are already in build and have been determined with approval granted. As such, Major or Notifiable works are not treated as new applications and the time taken is not reported upon.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 have discussions with the Mayor of London on introducing a statutory right to the Older Person's Freedom Pass for eligible residents in areas served by Transport for London.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Transport in London is a devolved matter for London, and it is for the Mayor of London to make decisions on eligibility of concessionary fares on the TfL network.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local authorities in providing permanent housing for victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statutory guidance strongly encourages local authorities to give priority for social housing to victims and their families who have escaped abuse and are being accommodated in a refuge or temporary accommodation.
Local authorities are also encouraged to give additional priority to people who are homeless and require urgent rehousing as a result of domestic abuse.
The government has also taken action to remove barriers for victims of domestic abuse to access social housing. Regulations, which came into force on 10 July 2025, mean that victims of domestic abuse moving as a result of that abuse will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test in order to access social housing.
We also intend to work with partners to update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households, such as those with victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to support local authorities to make use of disused buildings in a) England and b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to supporting local authorities to bring disused buildings back into use. Through the introduction of High Street Rental Auction powers in this parliament, we gave local authorities the power to auction the lease of long-term vacant commercial properties, putting tools in local hands to take action on empty properties.
The government is also supporting wider regeneration efforts, providing up to £5 billion nationally to help the most deprived communities to thrive through the Pride in Place Programme. This includes up to £20 million to Harold Hill East, which the neighbourhood may choose to use for local regeneration efforts.
In addition, we are consulting on a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which includes policies on the reuse of buildings and is currently open for responses until 10 March.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to support the (a) mental and (b) physical health of the homeless population in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets out action to improve health access for people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping, in alignment with the 10-Year Health Plan for England. As part of this, we will establish Neighbourhood Health Centres in areas with the lowest healthy life expectancy, acting as ‘one-stop shops’ for patient care and hubs for multi-disciplinary teams delivering holistic, trauma-informed services.
We will test a new model of community care for people for people living with severe mental illness through 24/7 Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres in six pilot sites and 16 associate sites, to improve access to mental health support, including for people experiencing homelessness or rough sleeping.
We will invest £185 million from 2026-29 and continue to fund the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol treatment programme.
Councils can also use their Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant 2025/26 funding flexibly to meet the needs of people in their areas, including by delivering specialist mental and physical health services. Havering Council received £379,926 funding through this grant this year.
To support the health of families in temporary accommodation, we will introduce a new duty on homelessness teams in local councils to notify schools, health visitors and GPs that a child is in temporary accommodation, helping ensure that they are appropriately supported.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 Section 21 of The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, how many change control applications were (a) received and (b) approved in 2025 by the Building Safety Regulator; and what was the average time taken by the regulator to approve the applications.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) can confirm that in 2025 there were 159 Regularisation Applications received with 47 approvals being delivered. The average time in which an approval was made was 33 weeks.
In 2025 BSR received 2335 Completion Certificate Applications, granting 664 approvals. The average time in which an approval has been made was 28 weeks.
The BSR can confirm that in 2025 there were 514 Change Control requests received with 148 of these marked as complete. The average time taken by the BSR to approve the applications cannot be determined as the Change Requests do not have a definitive outcome date.
Last June, MHCLG announced a new phase for the BSR, including strengthened leadership, steps to address operational challenges to speed up decision making, and plans for a new body for the BSR.
Enhanced operating models are delivering significant progress. A new Innovation Unit has dramatically reduced processing time for new build applications, with the highest quality applications approved within the 12-week target, whilst the BSR continues to make strong headway tackling cases already in the system.
BSR continue publish performance data monthly to support transparency and accountability.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 Section 40 of The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, how many completion certificate applications were (a) received and (b) approved in 2025 by the Building Safety Regulator; and what was the average time taken by the regulator to approve these applications.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) can confirm that in 2025 there were 159 Regularisation Applications received with 47 approvals being delivered. The average time in which an approval was made was 33 weeks.
In 2025 BSR received 2335 Completion Certificate Applications, granting 664 approvals. The average time in which an approval has been made was 28 weeks.
The BSR can confirm that in 2025 there were 514 Change Control requests received with 148 of these marked as complete. The average time taken by the BSR to approve the applications cannot be determined as the Change Requests do not have a definitive outcome date.
Last June, MHCLG announced a new phase for the BSR, including strengthened leadership, steps to address operational challenges to speed up decision making, and plans for a new body for the BSR.
Enhanced operating models are delivering significant progress. A new Innovation Unit has dramatically reduced processing time for new build applications, with the highest quality applications approved within the 12-week target, whilst the BSR continues to make strong headway tackling cases already in the system.
BSR continue publish performance data monthly to support transparency and accountability.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 Section 47 of The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, how many regularisation certificate applications were (a) received and (b) approved by the Building Safety Regulator in 2025; and what was the average time taken by the regulator to approve these applications.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) can confirm that in 2025 there were 159 Regularisation Applications received with 47 approvals being delivered. The average time in which an approval was made was 33 weeks.
In 2025 BSR received 2335 Completion Certificate Applications, granting 664 approvals. The average time in which an approval has been made was 28 weeks.
The BSR can confirm that in 2025 there were 514 Change Control requests received with 148 of these marked as complete. The average time taken by the BSR to approve the applications cannot be determined as the Change Requests do not have a definitive outcome date.
Last June, MHCLG announced a new phase for the BSR, including strengthened leadership, steps to address operational challenges to speed up decision making, and plans for a new body for the BSR.
Enhanced operating models are delivering significant progress. A new Innovation Unit has dramatically reduced processing time for new build applications, with the highest quality applications approved within the 12-week target, whilst the BSR continues to make strong headway tackling cases already in the system.
BSR continue publish performance data monthly to support transparency and accountability.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to support local authorities in repurposing derelict sites.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Derelict buildings can blight communities and the government is committed to giving communities the tools to revitalise them. The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on go.uk here.
The government’s Pride in Place programme will provide up to £5bn to help the most deprived communities thrive. The programme will put local neighbourhoods back in control, with 244 across the country given up to £20m of flexible funding over 10-years to unlock the potential of the place they call home. Restoring derelict buildings is one of the options available to those neighbourhoods, amongst other local priorities.
The government has also introduced High Street Rental Auction powers, giving councils the power to auction the lease of long-term vacant properties.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 make it his Department’s policy to review the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Authority parking is governed by legislation including the Traffic Management Act 2004 and related regulations. The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007 has been revoked primarily through The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022.
The 2022 regulations were made under powers in the Traffic Management Act 2004. The Traffic Management Act 2004 places a duty on local authorities to make sure traffic moves freely and quickly on their roads and the roads of nearby authorities. It gives councils tools to manage parking policies; coordinate street works and enforce some moving traffic offences.