Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse of reducing the annual expenditure by HM Land Registry on requisitions arising from manual or inconsistent submissions; and what the planned role is of property sector digitalisation in helping to achieve those savings.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For the year ending 31 March 2025, HM Land Registry (HMLR) estimated it had nearly 450,000 avoidable requisitions costing the conveyancing industry and HMLR up to £19m annually.
HMLR is supporting the conveyancing industry to improve the quality of its applications through a number of measures:
HMLR has been sharing avoidable requisition data with conveyancers for the last six months and since December 2025 HM Land Registry has published avoidable requisition data on gov.uk here. This has resulted in over 29% of law firms reducing their avoidable requisition rate and 20% now have an avoidable requisition rate under 1%.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to test digital transaction flows in the home-buying process from upfront information to settlement and title registration.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks.
The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to establish accreditation for digital platforms in the property market that are capable of providing verified property data, secure settlement and automated registration of home sales and purchases.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks.
The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 ensure home buyers and sellers are protected through the expansion of digital conveyancing, particularly in terms of data verification, property information and the security of settlement funds.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks.
The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress HM Land Registry has made in digitising the land register.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Title (Land) Register consists of information held in a variety of formats, including paper documents, scanned images, and digital images.
HM Land Registry (HMLR) is committed to digitising its data, while ensuring that data security, integrity and privacy remain paramount.
Work is underway in three key areas to transform HMLR's register information into a fully digitised format:
HMLR's longer term plans will integrate all its digitised information into a geospatial and fully digital Land Register that allows vital property information to be shared as spatial data. HMLR's Strategy 2025+, which is available on gov.uk here, sets out further details around its plans to support the property market and beyond with its data.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the (a) name, (b) job title, (c) annual remuneration, (d) time commitment and (e) expected end date is for each direct ministerial appointment in his Department.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We will publish data on MHCLG’s Direct Ministerial Appointments in line with recent guidance.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 safety of the Jewish community in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Antisemitism has no place in our society, and tackling it is a top priority for this government. We are particularly concerned about the steep increase in antisemitism we have seen since the abhorrent 7 October attacks.
The government is committed to protecting the safety of the Jewish community in the UK and making our streets and communities safer. That is why funding of £72 million has been allocated for the Community Security Trust to continue their vital work from 2024/25 until 2027/28, providing security to schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings.
The government works closely with the Independent Adviser on Antisemitism to provide independent advice to the Secretary of State on the most effective methods to tackle antisemitism and to ensure that the Jewish community’s concerns about antisemitism are heard and acted upon. We also work with the police to regularly review potential threats and ensure that everything is done to protect communities from hate crime.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 she has made of the number of small-scale landlords exiting the private rented sector due to incoming regulation and tax changes; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) housing availability and (b) rent prices.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the most recent release of the English Private Landlord Survey in 2024, 45% of landlords had only one property. This is similar to findings in 2021 (43%) and 2018 (45%).
Whilst landlords have been aware of successive governments’ plans to reform the private rented sector since 2019, the size of the sector as a whole has remained broadly stable since 2013-14.
The government is clear that it values the contribution of professional landlords who understand their responsibilities and comply with regulation, regardless of the size of their portfolios. The Renters’ Rights Bill will make sure good landlords have the confidence and support they need to continue to invest and operate in the sector.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of capping local authority landlord licensing fees in (a) rural and (b) low-income areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for setting fees for their licensing schemes, taking account of a number of factors. These include the initial set-up costs of the scheme, the cost of assessing applications and issuing licences, and, where necessary, the cost of inspecting properties . Licence fees will vary between areas to account for differences in costs, however local authorities are not expected to profit from licensing.
The government expects local authorities to make details of these fees, along with the rationale behind their determination, transparent and readily accessible.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 the speech entitled PM remarks on the fundamental reform of the British state, published on 13 March 2025, on what evidential basis the Prime Minister said that jumping spiders stopped the development of an entire new town.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the Swanscombe Peninsula was designated in 2021 due to the presence of a number of rare plant, bird and invertebrate species, including the rare Distinguished Jumping Spider. The SSSI includes a significant area of land that had been purchased by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation to bring forward an important part of the new Garden City at Ebbsfleet.
As a consequence of the designation and the need to comply with National Planning Policy on SSSI’s the Development Corporation took the decision to re-masterplan the area leading to the loss of approximately 1,300 new homes and some 30,000sqm of commercial development.
The Ebbsfleet Development Corporation continues to progress its plans for c15,000 new homes and facilities across its wider development area.