Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to take steps to protect tenants who will be served a Section 21 notice prior to the provisions of the Renters' Rights Act coming into effect in May 2026.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters' Rights Act delivers the government's manifesto commitment to overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector, including by abolishing Section 21 'no fault' evictions. We want to see tenants benefit from these reforms as quickly as possible.
From 1 May 2026, the new tenancy system provided for by the Act will apply to all private tenancies – existing tenancies will become periodic, and any new tenancies will be governed by the new rules. We will work closely with tenants groups and the landlord and lettings sector to ensure a smooth implementation.
The government has no plans to introduce additional protections before 1 May 2026. Tenants at risk of eviction can seek advice from specialist providers such as Shelter and Citizens Advice.
£644.17 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant has been made available to local authorities in 2025/26 to support them to deliver services to prevent and respond to homelessness. This includes an uplift of £203.8 million compared to 2024 to 2025.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 help ensure that social housing meets (a) decent and (b) safe living standards.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 81035 on 20 October 2025.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 help ensure that all disabled people in social housing have personal emergency evacuation plans.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are committed to improving systems that enable fire safety and evacuation of disabled and vulnerable residents in all high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings. On 4 July, the government laid The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 in Parliament, which will come into force on 6 April 2026.
Under the new regulations, residents with disabilities or impairments will be entitled to personal assessments designed to identify necessary equipment and adjustments that aid their fire safety and evacuation. Fire and Rescue Services will also receive information on vulnerable residents, where the individual resident agrees to the information being shared, in case they need to support their evacuation.
The government has committed funding this year to support social housing providers to deliver Residential PEEPs for their renters. Future years’ funding will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 with (a) local councils and (b) housing associations to help tackle homelessness in Chelsea and Fulham constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to getting back on track to ending all forms of homelessness across the country. Our cross-Government homelessness strategy will set out the actions needed across central and local government and the homelessness sector to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
The Government is supporting people at risk of and experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping across the country with more than £1 billion funding, a £316 million increase on last year. This includes £84 million new funding announced on 10 October 2025. Councils are able to use this funding to meet the needs of people in their area, and local authority allocations are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 help ensure that (a) repairs in social housing are carried out (i) promptly and (ii) effectively and (b) sufficient (A) funding and (B) oversight of repairs are in place.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Alongside delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding a generation, the government is committed to driving a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of homes.
Social housing tenants deserve to live in safe and decent homes, to be treated with fairness and respect, and to have their problems quickly resolved.
All registered providers of social housing are required to meet the outcomes of the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing. This includes providing an effective, efficient, and timely repairs service for the homes and communal areas they are responsible for, including setting timescales for completion, and communicate this to tenants. The Regulator has a series of powers at its disposal when it identifies serious failings in the way a landlord is delivering the outcomes of their standards.
On 2 July 2025, we launched consultations on an updated and modernised Decent Homes Standard and on a new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard. These new standards would be binding on registered providers of social housing.
The government will bring Awaab’s Law into force for the social rented sector on 27 October. Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action.
New requirements relating to electrical safety will also require social landlords to carry out electrical safety checks at least every five years, as well as mandatory appliance inspections on all electrical appliances that are provided by the landlord.
Registered providers rely on income from social housing rents in order to manage and maintain their homes to the required standards.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 help reduce waiting lists for social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 help support councils to increase the supply of affordable housing in Chelsea and Fulham constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of delays in the Building Safety Regulator’s approvals on the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment in the built environment sector.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The BSR is a key delivery partner in supporting government priorities, including the delivery of 1.5 million homes. We recognise that delays can have a significant impact across the construction sector, and we are committed to ensuring homes are delivered safely and quickly and investment opportunities are maximised.
Currently 154 New build Gateway 2 applications currently sit with the BSR, amounting to c. 29,000 homes, including c.15,000 in London.
To address these challenges on 30 June MHCLG announced significant changes marking a new phase of operations for the BSR, including addressing operational challenges, strengthening leadership and the intention to move the BSR from the HSE into a new standalone body.
On 4 August 2025, the BSR launched a new Fast Track Innovation Unit. This will significantly accelerate the determination of building control approval applications initially for new Higher-Risk Buildings (HRB) including those relevant to new affordable housing. This Unit aims to make a final decision within 65 days of receipt of an application. Of the 17 decisions going through this system as of 29 August 2025, 10 are ahead of internal milestones to meet this target, and the other 7 are on track.
Other reforms include improved communication with applicants and plans for an account manager model, granting approvals with requirements, and changes to allow Class 2 RBIs to handle some lower risk work, freeing up Class 3 capacity. To support this BSR will recruit over 100 new staff to strengthen capacity by the end of the year.
Combined MHCLG, BSR and Industry deep dives and BSR engagement with Tier 1 developers via the CLC working group are helping identify further improvements. Recently the CLC published new guidance to support successful submissions.
These changes will of course take time to take full effect, but the early signs are encouraging. I am clear that my department and the BSR should continue to work closely with the sector to ensure applications can be processed quickly without compromising safety.
On your question regarding potential delays as a result of the regulatory transition, the BSR and MHCLG are working closely together to ensure that the transition does not impact day to day delivery.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Building Safety Regulator's process delays on the delivery of infrastructure improvements to hospitals.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) are working closely with NHS Estates and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to understand the potential impact of the new more stringent, higher-risk building control regime on building work in hospitals. We have taken several steps to ensure that building control applications are processed as smoothly as possible, including:
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has had discussions with construction industry stakeholders on the short- and medium-term risks of transition delays during the transfer of regulatory responsibilities from the HSE to the new arm’s length agency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The BSR is a key delivery partner in supporting government priorities, including the delivery of 1.5 million homes. We recognise that delays can have a significant impact across the construction sector, and we are committed to ensuring homes are delivered safely and quickly and investment opportunities are maximised.
Currently 154 New build Gateway 2 applications currently sit with the BSR, amounting to c. 29,000 homes, including c.15,000 in London.
To address these challenges on 30 June MHCLG announced significant changes marking a new phase of operations for the BSR, including addressing operational challenges, strengthening leadership and the intention to move the BSR from the HSE into a new standalone body.
On 4 August 2025, the BSR launched a new Fast Track Innovation Unit. This will significantly accelerate the determination of building control approval applications initially for new Higher-Risk Buildings (HRB) including those relevant to new affordable housing. This Unit aims to make a final decision within 65 days of receipt of an application. Of the 17 decisions going through this system as of 29 August 2025, 10 are ahead of internal milestones to meet this target, and the other 7 are on track.
Other reforms include improved communication with applicants and plans for an account manager model, granting approvals with requirements, and changes to allow Class 2 RBIs to handle some lower risk work, freeing up Class 3 capacity. To support this BSR will recruit over 100 new staff to strengthen capacity by the end of the year.
Combined MHCLG, BSR and Industry deep dives and BSR engagement with Tier 1 developers via the CLC working group are helping identify further improvements. Recently the CLC published new guidance to support successful submissions.
These changes will of course take time to take full effect, but the early signs are encouraging. I am clear that my department and the BSR should continue to work closely with the sector to ensure applications can be processed quickly without compromising safety.
On your question regarding potential delays as a result of the regulatory transition, the BSR and MHCLG are working closely together to ensure that the transition does not impact day to day delivery.