Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what changes to Homes England’s structure or governance her Department is making to designate its subsidiary as a Public Financial Institution under the National Housing Bank proposal.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 June 2025 (HCWS712).
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 lifting of local connection tests for the specified vulnerable groups on social housing demand and allocations in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Regulations were laid on 19 June to ensure that young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse across England do not face unfair barriers to accessing social housing.
My Department will be monitoring the impact at local authority level through the Local Authority Housing Statistics and the social housing lettings and sales data returns.
We will not be able to assess the potential impact on (a) Milton Keynes or (b) Buckinghamshire specifically.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what monitoring systems will be introduced to ensure consistent exemption of victims of domestic abuse and young care leavers from local connection tests in all English local authorities.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The department will monitor the implementation of the exemption of victims of domestic abuse and young care leavers from local connection tests for social housing in all English local authorities through the Local Authority Housing Statistics data collection.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 new Infrastructure Levy rules on (a) housing delivery and (b) developer contributions in high-growth areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has made clear that it does not intend to implement the Infrastructure Levy as introduced in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.
Instead, we intend to focus on strengthening the existing system of developer contributions. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with representative bodies of small businesses on the impact of commercial lease conditions in high street premises on the financial viability of those businesses.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government recognises that both landlords and tenants have raised concerns about the commercial leasehold framework. That is why the government supports the Law Commission's ongoing review of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which aims to modernise the commercial leasehold framework, ensuring it is fit for today’s market. The Department has sought views on leasing issues from business representative organisations, including those representing small businesses, and is committed to supporting thriving high streets.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new homes have been built in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. This includes estimates of new homes built in each local authority, including Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, in each financial year. Statistics to 2023-24 can be found in Live Table 123 on gov.uk here.
The Department also publishes a quarterly release entitled ‘Housing supply: Indicators of New Supply, England’, which includes estimates of new build starts and completions in England and in each local authority district. Statistics to the quarter ending December 2024 can be found in Table 253a on gov.uk here. This dataset covers new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new housing in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes has been built on brownfield land in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department publishes a release entitled ‘Land use change: new residential addresses’, which includes information on new residential addresses and the previous land use - including previously developed - on which the addresses were created. This is available at England level, as well as each local authority district, including Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Statistics covering 2019-20 to 2021-2022 can be found in Table P302 on gov.uk here. Figures for more recent years are due to be published in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The number of households on social housing registers (waiting lists) in England and for each local authority in England is available each year since 1987 in live table 600 on gov.uk here.
The number of households on the housing register (waiting list) is not the same as the number of households waiting.
Local authorities periodically review their registers to remove households who no longer require housing, so the total number of households on housing registers may overstate the number of households who still require social housing at any one time. Housing register size may also be affected by other factors. For example, there is the potential for some households to be on the housing register of more than one local authority.
The frequency of reviews varies between local authorities.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department has provided for local infrastructure improvements related to housing development in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The table below lists infrastructure projects in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes that have received capital funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), the Land Release Fund (LRF), or the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) to unlock housing developments in the last five years, up to 31 December 2024.
Fund | Scheme | Location | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 | Total |
HIF | Aylesbury Garden Town | Buckinghamshire | £8.6m | £30.0m | £23.0m | £0.1m | £10.0m | £71.7m |
HIF | Princes Risborough Expansion Area | Buckinghamshire | - | £5.1m | £0.2m | - | - | £5.3m |
HIF | Realignment of Abbey Barn Lane (project since withdrawn) | Buckinghamshire | £0.8m | £0.4m | - | -£0.2m |
| £1.0m |
HIF | Milton Keynes East Sustainable Urban Expansion | Milton Keynes | £2.0m | £9.1m | £2.2m | £53.8m | £27.4m | £94.6m |
LRF 2 | Wing LRF | Buckinghamshire | £0.2m |
|
|
|
| £0.2m |
BLRF 2.2 | Old Country Offices | Buckinghamshire |
|
|
| £0.7m |
| £0.7m |
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes to deliver infrastructure alongside new housing developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The table below lists infrastructure projects in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes that have received capital funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), the Land Release Fund (LRF), or the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) to unlock housing developments in the last five years, up to 31 December 2024.
Fund | Scheme | Location | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 | Total |
HIF | Aylesbury Garden Town | Buckinghamshire | £8.6m | £30.0m | £23.0m | £0.1m | £10.0m | £71.7m |
HIF | Princes Risborough Expansion Area | Buckinghamshire | - | £5.1m | £0.2m | - | - | £5.3m |
HIF | Realignment of Abbey Barn Lane (project since withdrawn) | Buckinghamshire | £0.8m | £0.4m | - | -£0.2m |
| £1.0m |
HIF | Milton Keynes East Sustainable Urban Expansion | Milton Keynes | £2.0m | £9.1m | £2.2m | £53.8m | £27.4m | £94.6m |
LRF 2 | Wing LRF | Buckinghamshire | £0.2m |
|
|
|
| £0.2m |
BLRF 2.2 | Old Country Offices | Buckinghamshire |
|
|
| £0.7m |
| £0.7m |