Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 expand the permitted development right for floating solar installations on reservoirs in England and Wales to allow the electricity generated by the floating solar projects to be exported to third parties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning is a devolved matter within the competency of the Welsh Parliament.
The government continues to keep permitted development rights in England under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 extend the permitted development right for floating solar installations to disused quarries and docks in England and Wales.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning is a devolved matter within the competency of the Welsh Parliament.
The government continues to keep permitted development rights in England under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend permitted development rights for floating solar installations to on-farm reservoirs in England and Wales.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning is a devolved matter within the competency of the Welsh Parliament.
The government continues to keep permitted development rights in England under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 publish the Government’s response to the consultation entitled ‘Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases’ published on 9 November 2023.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 99005 on 5 January 2026.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, when he will bring forward secondary legislation to implement the core elements of the Act.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has already made significant progress when it comes to commencing provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024:
The government recognises the considerable financial strain that rising service charges place on leaseholders and tenants. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building. By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.
On 4 July 2025, the government published a consultation, jointly with the Welsh Government, on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. The consultation included proposals to increase transparency over service charges and enhance access to redress through the relevant provisions in the Act. It also proposed new reforms the section 20 ‘major works’ procedure. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. It closed on 26 September 2025, and we are analysing responses with a view to bringing the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible.
On 18 December 2025, the government launched a consultation on proposals to implement the Act’s new consumer protections for homeowners living on freehold estates. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 12 March 2026. We will look to bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.
The Act also sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. It removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Valuation rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. We will consult on valuation rates and commence the relevant provisions as soon as possible. As per my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), primary legislation will be required to rectify a small number of specific flaws in the 2024 Act before the Act’s enfranchisement provisions are commenced.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the National Leasehold Campaign.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG Ministers and officials engage regularly with a range of stakeholders in respect of leasehold and commonhold reform, including the National Leasehold Campaign.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 publish the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill before the end of the 2024-26 parliamentary session.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 102833 on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Plotland sites will be included within the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 102833 on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many single occupancy households there are in (a) England and (b) Wyre Forest constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on the number of households receiving the single person council tax discount is collected by the Department as part of the annual Council Taxbase snapshot. The 2023 snapshot can be found here. Data is only available for local authority areas not parliamentary constituencies.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
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 plans to publish a response to the consultation launched under the previous government on changes to various permitted development rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will keep changes to permitted development rights under review.