Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 27th January 2026 to Question 106884, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of local planning authorities in restricting the publication of ‘sensitive’ information relating to the physical security of a property on planning registers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such assessment. We keep planning practice guidance and procedures under review.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 an assessment of the potential public safety considerations of detailed internal residential plans remaining publicly accessible online after development has been completed.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Plans and drawings of proposed residential development, including any plans for internal arrangements, submitted with a planning application must be maintained and published by local planning authorities on their planning registers.
Local planning authorities should not publish information on their register which they consider to be ‘sensitive’, including information relating to the physical security of a property.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish the 2024 Housing Delivery Test results.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following delays to the publication of the 2023 Housing Delivery Test (HDT) results under the previous government, this government is committed to re-establishing a regular publication cycle.
We therefore intend to combine the data collections for the 2024 and 2025 HDTs and to publish both sets of results as soon as possible this year.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when local authorities will be informed of their indicative allocations of the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant for each consecutive financial year from 2026 to 2029.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Provisional allocations of the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant have been published on gov.uk here. Final allocations will be published in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued to local planning authorities on the increase in housing delivery targets through revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of that guidance in enabling authorities to meet statutory obligations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament
The standard method is used by local authorities to inform the preparation of their local plans. Once local housing need has been assessed, authorities should then make an assessment of the number of new homes that can be provided in their area. This should be justified by evidence on land availability, constraints on development, such as National Landscapes and areas at risk of flooding, and any other relevant matters. The approach taken is then be tested by the Planning Inspector during the examination of the Local Plan.
Alongside the publication of a new Standard method, my Department also published revised planning practice guidance to reflect these changes. This can be found on gov.uk here.
We will keep the need for additional planning practice guidance under review.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant for the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As announced in the Local Government Policy Statement on 20 November, found here, the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant will be worth at least £480 million over the 3 years from 2026/27 and the distribution will follow the existing allocation formula. Further details will be in the Local Government Finance provisional settlement before Christmas.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of Community Infrastructure Levy in the Borough of Waverley on the supply of new (a) residential and (b) commercial premises in that borough.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such an assessment.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 take steps to implement the same rules on (a) binding contracts and (b) upfront information in property transactions as are in place in Scotland.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October 2025, the government published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
The consultations include proposals to require sellers and estate agents to provide upfront property information and to support binding contracts.
Final decisions are subject to the outcome of these consultations.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will respond to the correspondence of 16 July 2025 from the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon regarding the Woolmead site in the Farnham and Bordon constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A response to the hon. Member was issued on 20 October 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to support (a) religious freedom and the (b) protection of minority faith groups.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right. Everyone in Britain has the right to feel safe and at ease where they live. The Government is committed to protecting individuals’ right to practise their religion freely and will not tolerate religious hatred in any form. Those who incite religious hatred will face the full force of the law.
Faith Groups in England and Wales that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime are eligible for funded protective security measures through the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme. This scheme offers physical security enhancements, such as CCTV, intruder alarms, and secure perimeter fencing.
An Antisemitism Working Group has been established to advise the Government on effective strategies to tackle hate against Jewish communities. Additionally, the government continues to work with the independent advisor Lord Mann in combating antisemitism through meaningful engagement with diverse communities.
The Government has also established an independent working group to advise on a non-statutory definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred. The working group have engaged widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of communities across the United Kingdom.