Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued on whether an elector can register to vote in three different localities.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the UK, citizens are entitled to be registered at more than one address in certain circumstances. It is the responsibility of the local Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to consider each application to register to vote on its own merits and to be satisfied that a person meets the residence criteria for each address.
The Electoral Commission as the independent electoral regulator, holds responsibility for issuing guidance on electoral registration.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings in each local authority in England are classified as Class F under regulation 2 of the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department publishes local authority level data on the number of dwellings receiving the Class F exemption as part of the Council Taxbase statistics. The latest data is based on a snapshot taken in October 2024 and can be found at the following link Council Taxbase Local Authority Level Data 2024 in the ‘Supplementary_Data’ tab.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the (a) use of Special Development Orders to obtain planning approval, (b) planning application call-in and (c) planning appeal recovery for asylum seeker accommodation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State’s powers relating to Special Development Orders are set out in section 60 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Policies on calling in planning applications and recovering appeals are set out in the Written Ministerial Statements of 26 October 2012 and 30 June 2008 respectively.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average amount of time is for the Land Registry to update the title deeds on gov.uk following a purchase of a dwelling.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry’s processing times are publicly available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 26 March 2025 to Question 40156 on Green Belt, whether allotments are deemed to be Grey Belt land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department published updated guidance on Green Belt policy on 27 February 2025 to assist local authorities and other decision-makers in determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here.
It is for decision-makers to consider how to apply this to particular local circumstances and assess whether a site constitutes grey belt, as it will depend upon the circumstances of each case. The government does not maintain a definitive list of land uses or categories which constitute grey belt land.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with (a) district and (b) county councils in Norfolk and Suffolk on cancelling the planned local elections in May 2026.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has had no discussions with district or county councils in Norfolk or Suffolk about cancelling the planned local elections in May 2026.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on whether public disturbances outside asylum hotels are a material consideration in relation to (a) planning harm and (b) change of use from a hotel into asylum hostel accommodation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has not issued any such guidance.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 21 March 2025 to Question 38045 on Councillors: Planning, if she will make it her policy to require the Mayor of London to undertake the same compulsory training on planning that will be required of councillors on a planning committee.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, it is the intention that mayors will be required to undertake mandatory training.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what public consultation her Department has undertaken in relation to the proposed prohibition of upward-only rent reviews for commercial leases in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
No formal public consultation was undertaken prior to the announcement of the policy. However, upwards only rent reviews are an issue of a longstanding concern that artificially inflated rents make it harder for businesses to access commercial property. The government conducted extensive research and expert engagement before deciding to proceed with the ban, which will encourage the market to operate more efficiently, ensuring rents respond to market conditions, and promote less adversarial relations between landlords and tenants.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will hold discussions with the Chair of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition on the potential merits of publishing all responses to the call for evidence.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As noted in the Terms of Reference, the advice provided to government by the independent Working Group will be private. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.