Written questions by Ribeiro-Addy.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling tenants and residents to pay disputed service charges to the courts while disputes with landlords are being heard.

The government has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of paying disputed service charges to the courts while disputes are being heard.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of large-scale commercial events held in public parks in London on local communities, biodiversity, and long-term access to green space; and whether he plans to increase protections for such spaces.

We have made no central assessment on the impact of large-scale commercial events held in public parks in London. Whilst we recognise that open and green spaces are an essential part of local social infrastructure and must be protected for future generations, we also recognise that responsibility for funding, managing and maintaining urban parks lies mainly with local authorities. The government is committed to supporting Local Authorities in developing best practice to manage parks and green spaces. We are consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including policies on areas of high biodiversity value, and a new requirement for local plans to set standards for green infrastructure drawing on the Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework. The consultation on changes to the NPPF will remain open for responses until 10th March 2026. On protections for these spaces, last year we announced our intention to review existing protections for public recreational green spaces. We will seek to examine and understand the fragmented and outdated nature of current legislative protections, assess how these protections complement those in the planning system, and consider the lack of central records on protected land.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his grey belt policy on Green Belt farmland in London.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 26509 on 5 February 2025 and UIN 67891 on 23 July 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to bring almshouse residents’ rights in line with tenants' rights.

The legal position of almshouse residents is that they occupy their homes under a licence rather than a tenancy. The government has no current plans to change this. Almshouse residents have protections under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Where almshouses are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, they must also deliver the outcomes set out in the regulator's standards. The Tenancy Standard, which can be found on gov.uk here, compels Private Registered Providers to offer tenancies or terms of occupation which are compatible with the purpose of the accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of their housing stock.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations on council tax in the consultation entitled Modernising and improving the administration of council tax, published on 20 June 2025.

We are currently considering all responses to the consultation. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of applying the Decent Homes Standard to affordable housing.

The Decent Homes Standard already applies to affordable housing managed by registered providers of social housing.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she will take to tackle the impact of furniture poverty on children in low-income families; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of furnished tenancies in social housing on reducing the impact of furniture poverty.

On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing furnished tenancies in social housing on costs to the public purse.

On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether the new Decent Homes Standard will include a requirement that at least 10% of social homes are let as furnished.

On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has commissioned research into the potential impact of universal basic income on (a) homelessness rates and (b) housing security.

The government has not commissioned research into the potential impact of universal basic income on homelessness rates and housing security. A universal basic income is not government policy.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of obligating developers to conduct (a) Type 2 surveys of internal compartmentation of common parts of medium-to-high rise multi-occupancy buildings and (b) in instances where those surveys reveal defects, additional Type 4 surveys within flats.

Developers who signed the Developer Remediation Contract are obligated to remediate or pay to remediate external and internal life-critical fire safety defects due to the original design and construction in relevant building. In doing so, those developers must obtain fire safety assessments demonstrating that they have complied with their contractual obligations. Those assessments may include Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (which must comply with PAS 9980) and other fire safety assessments (which must comply with relevant industry standards). The type of assessments needed will depend on the circumstances of the building. MHCLG regularly audits assessments obtained by developers to make sure that they comply with the contractual requirements. If an assessment is non-compliant, the developer is required to address this at its own expense.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of councils offering private rented properties.

It is a matter for individual local authorities as to whether they wish to include private rented accommodation as part of their wider housing offer, including through Local Housing Companies.The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and will support councils and housing associations to build their capacity to make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply.For an overview of our policies in this area, I refer the hon. Member to my response to Question UIN 41721 on 3 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that developers provide structural remediation works to ensure that buildings are safe for residents.

Building owners are responsible for managing building safety and performance issues in their building, including any structural issues. Under the Building Safety Act 2022, Principal Accountable Persons for higher risk buildings (buildings with 7 or more storeys, or which are 18m or more in height with 2+ residential units) are responsible for assessing, reviewing, and taking all reasonable steps to prevent structural risks identified in their building from materialising to keep residents safe.The Building Safety Act 2022 also protects qualifying leaseholders from unreasonable costs of remediating historical safety defects, including structural defects, and makes it possible for building owners to apply to recover some or all of the cost of remediation from the third parties who were responsible for relevant defects.In addition, developers who signed the developer remediation contract have committed to undertake or pay for an estimated £3.9 billion worth of remedial works to address life-critical fire safety defects arising from the design and construction of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed, or refurbished in England in the 30 years ending on 4 April 2022. We publish quarterly updates on the progress that developers are making. Any developer who fails to comply with their obligations faces significant consequences.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of recording actual rents on the new Private Rented Sector Database.

The Private Rented Sector Database will support local authority enforcement action, help landlords understand their legal obligations and give tenants the information they need to make informed choices before entering into a tenancy agreement.We intend for the Database to collect information about landlords and whether their rental property complies with key health and safety information.In addition to data about the ownership and standard of PRS properties, we are considering the feasibility and merits of recording a wider range of data, including rent levels.We will stipulate the specific requirements in regulations.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of use of management agencies to complete repairs by housing associations.

All registered providers of social housing are required to ensure they meet regulatory standards and legal duties relating to repairs, regardless of whether they use a management agency to oversee their repairs services.Under the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing, all registered providers must provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible.Social landlords are obliged by law to maintain the structure and exterior of their properties, and to keep in repair and proper working order the sanitation, water, gas, and electricity installations.

Communities and Local Government, if she will introduce a statutory requirement for swift bricks.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure the provision of adequate funding for demand-led local government services in the next spending review.

We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. Funding allocations from future settlements are subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews.The final Settlement for 2025-26 therefore makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.We are also taking immediate action to begin addressing the significant challenges facing local government by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most in 2025-26.The Ministry works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made and assessment of the inclusion of measures of deprivation as part of funding reform for local government.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27.We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February), as well as engaging with the local government sector more broadly. As part of this, we are inviting views on the drivers of councils’ spending need, including measures of deprivation.This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, which we will consult on in late Spring following the multi-year Spending Review and ahead of the provisional multi-year Settlement for 2026-27.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to establish a formal shared decision-making arrangement between the Mayor of London and local authorities.

The Government remains committed to engaging local authorities, including London Borough Councils, and the wider local government sector on the detail of our reforms set out in the English Devolution White Paper. As part of this process, it will be important to consider London’s unique devolution settlement, including drawing on existing ways of working between the Greater London Authority and London Boroughs.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to give local authorities in London a formal decision-making role in any future Integrated Settlement applied to the Greater London Authority.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. This work is currently taking place and the Government plans to announce further details following the conclusion of Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.