Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 p.94 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, if he will publish his Department's (a) proposals and (b) timetable for implementing proposed powers to enable local authorities to take over the management of vacant residential properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use across the country.
Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.
They can also access funding through the Affordable Homes Programme and Local Authority Housing Fund. Through the New Homes Bonus, local authorities can also receive the same level of reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.
Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.
The government outlined its intent to strengthen local authorities’ ability to take over the management of vacant residential premises in the English Devolution White Paper published in December 2024. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 reduce the number of vacant residential properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use across the country.
Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.
They can also access funding through the Affordable Homes Programme and Local Authority Housing Fund. Through the New Homes Bonus, local authorities can also receive the same level of reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.
Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.
The government outlined its intent to strengthen local authorities’ ability to take over the management of vacant residential premises in the English Devolution White Paper published in December 2024. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the proportion of projected additional funding for the Affordable Homes Programme that will be allocated to homes for social rent in the next three financial years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme averages £2.3 billion of grant capital funding per year.
The Spending Review 2025 policy paper (which can be found on gov.uk here) makes clear that spending on our new £39 billion, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (2026-27 to 2035-36) will reach £4 billion per year in 2029-30 and rise in line with inflation subsequently.
As such, government spending on affordable housing investment will have almost doubled by the end of this Parliament.
Government does not usually publish year-by-year spend on specific programmes in advance. We will continue to publish past year’s expenditure figures in the department's Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the projected percentage increase in nominal funding for the Affordable Homes Programme in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme averages £2.3 billion of grant capital funding per year.
The Spending Review 2025 policy paper (which can be found on gov.uk here) makes clear that spending on our new £39 billion, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (2026-27 to 2035-36) will reach £4 billion per year in 2029-30 and rise in line with inflation subsequently.
As such, government spending on affordable housing investment will have almost doubled by the end of this Parliament.
Government does not usually publish year-by-year spend on specific programmes in advance. We will continue to publish past year’s expenditure figures in the department's Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the real-terms percentage change in funding for the Affordable Homes Programme in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme averages £2.3 billion of grant capital funding per year.
The Spending Review 2025 policy paper (which can be found on gov.uk here) makes clear that spending on our new £39 billion, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (2026-27 to 2035-36) will reach £4 billion per year in 2029-30 and rise in line with inflation subsequently.
As such, government spending on affordable housing investment will have almost doubled by the end of this Parliament.
Government does not usually publish year-by-year spend on specific programmes in advance. We will continue to publish past year’s expenditure figures in the department's Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be informed by site level assessments where required.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the impact of development.
The plans will be evidence based and subject to consultation before coming to the Secretary of State for consideration.
Where an Environmental Delivery Plan is in place and a developer utilises it, the developer would no longer be required to undertake their own assessments, or deliver project-specific interventions, for issues addressed by the Environmental Delivery Plan.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 part three of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, whether environmental delivery plans will be applied in a modular way, with species considered on a case-by-case basis.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the negative impact of development.
Where this is not the case, existing environmental obligations, including those arising under the Habitats Regulations, will remain in place.
We are working with Natural England to explore which species might benefit from strategic approaches.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be required to follow the mitigation hierarchy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Environmental Development Plans will provide the flexibility to diverge from project-by-project mitigation and a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy.
However, this will only be where Natural England consider that this would deliver better outcomes for nature over the course of the delivery plan.
An Environmental Development Plan can only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are satisfied that the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of overseas voters who did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024; and whether her Department plans to take steps to increase the proportion of overseas voters who receive a ballot in time.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas voters that did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024.
As set out in our response to the Electoral Commission’s evaluation of the 2024 general election, published last month (Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK), the Government recognises the Commission’s findings with regards to the difficulties faced by British citizens living overseas when trying to participate in UK elections.
As part of our review of electoral registration and conduct, the government, in partnership with electoral practitioners and the Electoral Commission, is examining several aspects of the system for overseas electors, with a view to identifying practical solutions to some of the challenges faced.