Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 his Department’s press release entitled PM: “We're capping ground rents at £250”, published on 27 January 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of those reforms on mortgage availability and property sales for leasehold homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) as well as the corresponding ground rent policy statement which can be found on gov.uk here.
An Impact Assessment and response to the 2023 ground rent consultation will be published in due course to support scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 his Department’s press release entitled PM: “We're capping ground rents at £250”, published on 27 January 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed cap to ground rent on levels of rent set by landlords.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) as well as the corresponding ground rent policy statement which can be found on gov.uk here.
An Impact Assessment and response to the 2023 ground rent consultation will be published in due course to support scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 his Department’s press release entitled PM: “We're capping ground rents at £250”, published on 27 January 2026, what proportion of leaseholders will have ground rents reduced immediately upon commencement of the cap.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) as well as the corresponding ground rent policy statement which can be found on gov.uk here.
An Impact Assessment and response to the 2023 ground rent consultation will be published in due course to support scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 his Department’s press release entitled PM: “We're capping ground rents at £250”, published on 27 January 2026, whether the proposed peppercorn ground rent cap after 40 years will apply retroactively.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) as well as the corresponding ground rent policy statement which can be found on gov.uk here.
An Impact Assessment and response to the 2023 ground rent consultation will be published in due course to support scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 his Department’s press release entitled PM: “We're capping ground rents at £250”, published on 27 January 2026, what estimate his Department has made of the number of residential leaseholders paying more than £250 on ground rent.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) as well as the corresponding ground rent policy statement which can be found on gov.uk here.
An Impact Assessment and response to the 2023 ground rent consultation will be published in due course to support scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the cost to local authorities was of providing social care to asylum seekers in each financial year since 2019-20 by (a) adults, (b) children in families and (c) unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data about local authorities’ spend on all services through the General Fund revenue outturn collection, including spend on social care for asylum seekers in the General Fund Revenue Account Outturn RO3 - Social Care and Public Health Services. The collection for each financial year is published online here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK. The guidance notes which describe what should be captured in each line can be found here: General fund revenue account outturn: specific guidance notes - GOV.UK.
The reported spend is available for both the national and local authority level.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on (a) changes in local authority spending on social care for asylum seekers between 2019-20 and 2024-25 and (b) the reasons for those changes.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data about local authorities’ spend on all services through the General Fund revenue outturn collection, including spend on social care for asylum seekers in the General Fund Revenue Account Outturn RO3 - Social Care and Public Health Services. The collection for each financial year is published online here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK. The guidance notes which describe what should be captured in each line can be found here: General fund revenue account outturn: specific guidance notes - GOV.UK.
The reported spend is available for both the national and local authority level.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 list the ten local authorities which incurred the highest asylum-related social care costs in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data about local authorities’ spend on all services through the General Fund revenue outturn collection, including spend on social care for asylum seekers in the General Fund Revenue Account Outturn RO3 - Social Care and Public Health Services. The collection for each financial year is published online here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK. The guidance notes which describe what should be captured in each line can be found here: General fund revenue account outturn: specific guidance notes - GOV.UK.
The reported spend is available for both the national and local authority level.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will have discretion following the implementation of electoral boundary changes to determine whether elections are held by thirds, halves, or all-out elections without further primary or secondary legislation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The legislation governing councils’ power to choose its own scheme of elections is set out in Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The legislation permits non-metropolitan district councils to choose to move to electing by thirds or halves where they have previously held elections by thirds or halves.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 postponing the 2026 local elections on the progress of Thurrock council's local plan.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government followed a locally-led process and based his decisions on a careful consideration of the representations made from councils with elections scheduled in May and from other councils, interested organisations, Members of Parliament, and members of the public. The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.