Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 allocate fines to housebuilders from the Competition and Markets Authority to support the community land trust sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Seven housebuilders have agreed to pay a total of £100 million to affordable housing programmes across all four nations of the UK following a CMA investigation in response to concerns that they exchanged details about sales including pricing, number of property viewings and incentives offered to buyers.
The CMA is currently undertaking a consultation on how the money may be used. That consultation closes 24 July. Decisions on how the money is allocated will be made after the responses to the consultation have been analysed.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 is taking steps to give Community Land Trusts improved access to Registered Provider status.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Community Land Trusts and other community-based organisations can already apply to become registered providers of social housing. The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) sets registration criteria with respect to an applicant’s financial situation, constitution, or other arrangements for its management. Applicants who meet these criteria, regardless of the specific model of the provider, must be registered by law.
Being a registered provider brings significant responsibilities. RSH’s registration criteria are designed to ensure that, once registered, social landlords are capable of meeting ongoing regulatory requirements to provide safe, well-maintained homes through organisations that are well governed and financially viable.
The Regulator uses an outcomes-based approach to regulation; this also applies to the registrations process. This means that applicants have flexibility in how they demonstrate that they meet the criteria, allowing applicants with a range of business structures to have an approach that suits their needs.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to expand the definition of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests to include (a) being in receipt of an employment offer and (b) being a candidate for employment in an ongoing employment process.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011 (‘the Act’) requires a local authority to make provisions in its member code of conduct not just for the registration of pecuniary interests but also for other interests; this may include employment offers.
Under the Act, local authorities are required to have member code of conduct provisions that conform to the Nolan Principles and promote and maintain high standards of conduct. The Local Government Association has produced guidance on gov.uk a model code of conduct, recommending that they include provisions that members must not use their position improperly to the advantage or disadvantage of themselves or anyone else.
It is currently for local authorities to decide their code of conduct in line with lawful requirements. We consulted on a mandatory gov.uk minimum code of conduct for local authorities in England and will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what fiscal measures her Department has considered to help facilitate the renovation of existing residential sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to supporting estate regeneration schemes to transform neighbourhoods by delivering well designed housing and public space, a better quality of life and new opportunities for tenants.
As of June 2023, grant funding provided through the government’s Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 can be used to fund replacement homes alongside new affordable homes, as part of wider estate regeneration plans.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) bee and (b) swift bricks on urban biodiversity; and what steps her Department is taking to promote the inclusion of bee bricks in new housing developments and infrastructure projects.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Model Design Code and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework set out how development can incorporate a range of nature friendly features including bee bricks and swift bricks.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 is taking to help (a) councils and (b) local authorities deliver more (i) house-building and (ii) social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
On 30 July 2024 we announced a number of changes in planning policy designed to support the delivery of affordable homes. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts, and a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to grow their housing stock.
At the Budget on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. The Chancellor also confirmed that we will reduce Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels and allow councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.
On 12 February 2025, the government announced a further cash injection of £300 million to the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 2,800 new homes, with more than half being Social Rent homes. The government also announced a £50 million uplift to the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund.
Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing.
We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) trends in the level of local authority borrowing costs and (b) rent-setting policies on the ability of local councils to build and maintain housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that access to low-cost borrowing and the certainty provided by a long-term rent settlement are essential to the ability of local authorities to build and maintain housing stock. To this end, the government is helping local authorities borrow more cheaply from the Public Works Loan Board until the end of 2025-26.
Local authorities are responsible for their own capital strategies and have wide freedoms to use borrowing to support local investment. Under the current framework, they must ensure borrowing is prudent, affordable, and sustainable.
The government recently consulted on a long-term rent settlement that would allow social housing rents to increase above inflation (by up to CPI + 1%) each year for five years from 2026. The consultation closed on 23 December and my officials and I are giving careful consideration to all the responses received. The government will issue its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 conducted an impact assessment of the Right to Buy scheme on council (a) house building (b) housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not undertaken a full formal impact assessment of the Right to Buy scheme.
However, the impact of the increased 2012 Right to Buy discounts on council housing stock and housebuilding was considered as part of the review of discounts that was published in October 2024.
More information can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 is taking to ensure that the building safety regulator is sufficiently resourced to adequately perform its functions.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
MHCLG remain committed to ensuring the BSR are properly funded to deliver the most significant changes to building safety for generations. The BSR’s mission is to protect people and places, stewarding a built environment where buildings are long-lasting and confidence is restored in residents’ safety and the competence of the sector.
The BSR has been building capacity and developing operational functions to deliver its statutory duties under the Building Safety Act 2022. We have ramped up work with local authorities and regulators to speed up remediation and will set out a Remediation Acceleration plan shortly. Funding provided to the BSR remains in line with best regulatory practice, taking a transparent and proportionate approach to deliver this mission.