Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consideration his Department of providing additional resource for local authorities to enforce 12 month relet bans on landlords who do not adhere to incoming legislation within the Renters Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In accordance with the New Burdens Doctrine, we will ensure additional net costs on local authorities created by the Renters’ Rights Bill are fully funded.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending planning legislation on digital advertising screens.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The advertisement control regime seeks to control the impact of advertisements by reference to their effect on amenity and public safety. Responsibility for the application of the legislation rests with local planning authorities and they are best placed to consider the impact of specific advertisements.
My Department has not made any assessment of the impact of digital advertising screens and we have no current plans to issue guidance to local planning authorities on the cumulative impact of such installations.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the decommissioning of supported housing schemes.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51474 on 19 May 2025.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken with Homes England to encourage SMEs to build affordable homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has set Homes England a strategic objective that funding for the Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 should support use of small and medium-sized enterprise contractors. When Homes England assess a bid to the programme for funding, they will look at how the proposed development meets this strategic objective. Homes England will also include this objective in any grant agreement for the programme.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing emergency funding for temporary accommodation in London.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
This government has increased funding for homelessness services in 2025/26 by £233 million to nearly £1 billion. This includes more than £277 million for London, an increase of more than £78 million from 2024/25.
Councils can draw from the wider local government finance settlement to help meet homelessness and temporary accommodation costs. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 makes available a total Core Spending Power of up to £10.14 billion for London Boroughs excluding the GLA, representing an increase of 6.6%.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to include provisions for youths in the upcoming homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance on the use of offsite manufacture in house building.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Building regulations apply equally to homes built using modern methods of construction as those built using traditional methods. Developers are responsible for complying with the functional requirements of the building regulations, which are set out in legislation and the Approved Documents.
We are working with the British Standards Institution to create a Publicly Available Specification for modern methods of construction new build residential properties, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to take steps to support councils in London with temporary accommodation pressures.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high, and we are taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.
This Government has inherited record levels of temporary accommodation, and we recognise the pressure this has put on councils. The government regularly takes a wide range of evidence into account when determining the overall level of funding available for local government services, including expected temporary accommodation pressures in 202/26. The majority of funding provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced in recognition that local councils are best placed to understand the needs of their communities. The Government has confirmed there will be over £5 billion additional government grant funding available for local government services in 2025/26, over and above increases to council tax. Of this, over £2 billion is being made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26.
The Government is clear that, in the short-term, we must prioritise eliminating the worst forms of temporary accommodation such as families in Bed and Breakfast (B&B), other than in genuine emergencies. We have also launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £8 million, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of B&B accommodation for homeless families, including 11 London Boroughs. This will support LAs to move families into more suitable accommodation.
In addition, the £1.25 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to around 7,700 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing and better-quality temporary accommodation for local communities.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring that both staircases in new residential buildings over 18 metres function as fire-fighting staircases.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the UK government took significant steps to enhance fire safety in new residential buildings including increased provisions of sprinkler systems, and the ban on combustible materials in external walls.
Following engagement with the sector including fire and rescue services, developers and designers, the government proposed to introduce new guidance making provisions for a second staircases in new residential buildings exceeding 18 metres in height. This new guidance takes effect on 30 September 2026.
The current guidance, Approved Document B (Fire Safety), is already clear that residential buildings with a floor area of 900sqm should include a minimum of two firefighting stairs. For buildings below this threshold where a second stair is provided, the second staircases should be, as a minimum, a protected escape stair able to provide an effective means of egress for occupants.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the quality of new residential units that were converted from commercial buildings through permitted development rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government acknowledge the concerns that exist about the quality of residential units created through permitted development rights, particularly office-to-residential conversions. We will continue to keep permitted development rights under review.