Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a mechanism allowing councils to insist that property developers are registered with the New Homes Ombudsman to make development applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government expects all housebuilders to deliver high-quality homes and to swiftly resolve issues if and when things go wrong. We have committed to working with the devolved administrations to implement a statutory UK-wide New Homes Ombudsman that developers will have to join and remain members of. This Ombudsman will investigate and resolve complaints and provide new home buyers with redress.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review housing allocation guidance to ensure that care leavers’ (a) welfare and (b) community ties are taken into account when determining (i) local connection and (ii) housing priority.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities have discretion to manage their housing registers (waiting lists) and are free to develop solutions that make best use of their social housing stock.
Many local authorities have adopted a residency or local connection test for social housing which requires people to have a well-established local association or to have lived in the area for a certain period before they can put their name on the housing waiting list. Statutory guidance also makes clear that local authorities are expected to take proper account of special circumstances, by making provision for appropriate exceptions.
We recognise that not all care leavers wish to settle in areas that they have a local connection to. As a result, we laid regulations to exempt care leavers under 25 from local connection or residency tests in order to access social housing. These regulations came into force on 10 July 2025.
Statutory guidance was also updated to strongly encourage local authorities to give the same level of priority to those care leavers who have been placed in their authority area and wish to stay, as their own care leavers whom they have a duty to provide support and assistance up to age 25. Local authorities should also consider exempting care leavers more broadly to recognise that a lack of family stability and their experiences whilst in or leaving care might mean that some care leavers may not have a tangible connection to an area.
The guidance on social housing allocations, which the government keeps under review, can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 that care leavers are able to remain in areas they have (a) links to and (b) family connections in.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities have discretion to manage their housing registers (waiting lists) and are free to develop solutions that make best use of their social housing stock.
Many local authorities have adopted a residency or local connection test for social housing which requires people to have a well-established local association or to have lived in the area for a certain period before they can put their name on the housing waiting list. Statutory guidance also makes clear that local authorities are expected to take proper account of special circumstances, by making provision for appropriate exceptions.
We recognise that not all care leavers wish to settle in areas that they have a local connection to. As a result, we laid regulations to exempt care leavers under 25 from local connection or residency tests in order to access social housing. These regulations came into force on 10 July 2025.
Statutory guidance was also updated to strongly encourage local authorities to give the same level of priority to those care leavers who have been placed in their authority area and wish to stay, as their own care leavers whom they have a duty to provide support and assistance up to age 25. Local authorities should also consider exempting care leavers more broadly to recognise that a lack of family stability and their experiences whilst in or leaving care might mean that some care leavers may not have a tangible connection to an area.
The guidance on social housing allocations, which the government keeps under review, can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 support (a) local authorities and (b) residents where housing developments cannot be adopted because developers have gone into liquidation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 time taken for the adoption of (a) highways and (b) drainage infrastructure on completed housing developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in providing (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period.
The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most. By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth.
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to local government funding on the ability of local authorities to provide (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period.
The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most. By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth.
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the supply of homes for social rent in Hazel Grove constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention plans to respond to the correspondence of 16 May 2025 from the hon. Member for Hazel Grove, ref LS06955.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The department provided a response on 29 August 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of Class E to the Use Classes Order on the variety of businesses on high streets.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Class E of the Use Classes Order enables flexibility to change between uses commonly found on the High Street. No recent assessment has been made of the impact of the introduction of Class E on the variety of businesses on the high street.