Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes (a) have been built and are occupied now and (b) are guaranteed to be built and occupied by the end of 2019 as a result of the Government's garden villages and towns policy.

The Government currently supports 24 locally-led garden cities, towns and villages through its Garden Communities programme and sponsorship of Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. Locally-led Garden Communities are vital to delivering transformational housing growth that we need. We have provided £22 million of capacity funding to fund dedicated staff teams, key studies and assessments to underpin delivery of our garden towns and villages.

As of June, local authorities confirm that over 10,000 high quality homes have been completed, leaving a legacy for generations to be proud of – echoing the commitments made in our Housing White Paper.

Local authorities expect over 5,500 additional homes will be completed by the end of 2019.

We do not hold data on the occupancy rates of Garden Communities, but the number of long-term vacant dwellings across England remains lower than when records began.