Written questions by Anderson.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of community-led housing in breaking down discrimination in access to housing.

The government recognises that the community-led housing sector delivers a wide range of benefits including strengthening community participation in local decision-making, engendering community cohesion, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy. In March, we announced a £20m 10-year social finance investment to provide capital finance for community-led housing, which is expected to directly support the construction of more than 2,500 new homes over the next decade. These housebuilding projects will be led by communities to specifically address local needs in their area. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December strengthened support for community-led housing, including through changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing. The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme seeks to support an increase in the delivery of community-led and rural housing. The flexibility in grant rates provided for under the new programme will help community-led schemes achieve viability and help the sector grow towards its full potential.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK support on Ukrainian communities in (i) Milton Keynes and (ii) Buckinghamshire.

The Government is committed to working in partnership with local authorities to understand the integration needs of Ukrainians and how we can work together to ensure positive integration outcomes in local communities.Homes for Ukraine guests have the right to work and full recourse to public funds with access to public services, including housing, healthcare and education.Councils receive a tariff of £5,900 per Homes for Ukraine arrival in their area to support guests to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. We publish funding allocation data each quarter, which is broken down by local authority: Homes for Ukraine funding - GOV.UK.Councils have the flexibility to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area. This could include measures to support guests to access employment, English language provision and provide integration measures that support Ukrainians to access private rented accommodation.In addition, MHCLG has provided £11.5 million of funding for language and employment support to over 12,500 Ukrainians across the UK through the STEP Ukraine Programme. The STEP Programme launched in October 2025 will provide intensive English language lessons and employment support for up to a further 4,000 individuals..We continue to engage closely with councils and the voluntary and community sector to ensure that we understand the needs of Ukrainians living in the UK and that adequate support is available.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of betting shops on town centre vitality.

Some high streets have become increasingly dominated by certain types of premises – including gambling establishments – which don’t always meet the needs of their communities. According to the Gambling Commission, the number of adult gaming centres (AGCs) rose by 7% between 2022 and 2024, with additional data showing that AGCs are most concentrated in areas of higher deprivation.My Department will take action to tackle the number of gambling premises in vulnerable areas by introducing Cumulative Impact Assessments in gambling licensing when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, what evaluation framework he will use to measure the economic impact of the High Street Strategy.

The Government recognises that too many high streets are facing significant social and economic pressures, including high vacancy rates, dwindling footfall and the loss of local businesses. That is why the Government committed this January to bring forward a new High Streets Strategy to help reverse these trends.This strategy will be backed by at least £150 million to support some of the most in-need high streets. Funding will be directed towards areas that have felt the harshest impact of high street decline. Further details on the strategy, including the evaluation approach, will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he us taking to help ensure new regeneration tools like Community Right to Buy deliver outcomes for independent retailers.

The Government is committed to supporting independent retailers and the high streets on which they operate. Community right to buy, which we are introducing through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, will empower local communities to bring a wide range of assets into community ownership and protect them for future use, including shops.This is part of a wider suite of regeneration tools the Government is introducing, including High Street Rental Auctions and a more streamlined Compulsory Purchase Order process, which offer councils and communities the chance to preserve valuable spaces and create a higher quality trading environment for independent retailers.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of unadopted infrastructure across new freehold estates.

I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Communities and Local Government, what baseline data his Department holds on the number of roads and sewers not adopted by (a) Buckinghamshire Council and (b) Milton Keynes City Council.

My Department does not hold the requested data. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Communities and Local Government, what his planned timeline is for implementing the proposed reforms to restore access for councillors and extend access to mayors under the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Subject to consultation responses, the government intends to implement the proposals from the start of the 2026-27 financial year.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that new affordable housing built under the plan for 1.5 million homes will be accessible to first-time buyers whose deposit is less than 10 per cent.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership. In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, the government is supporting people into home ownership, including through the shared ownership scheme and the Lifetime ISA. The government has also introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, available to support and sustain availability of low deposit mortgage products for prospective buyers. Additionally, the Bank of England is easing the loan-to-income limit, enabling up to 36,000 additional first-time buyers in the first year. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ongoing review of the mortgage market means many buyers can now borrow 10% more towards a property purchase. The government looks forward to ambitious proposals from the FCA’s paper. First-time buyers may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.

Communities and Local Government, what monitoring systems will be introduced to ensure consistent exemption of victims of domestic abuse and young care leavers from local connection tests in all English local authorities.

The department will monitor the implementation of the exemption of victims of domestic abuse and young care leavers from local connection tests for social housing in all English local authorities through the Local Authority Housing Statistics data collection.

Communities and Local Government, what changes to Homes England’s structure or governance her Department is making to designate its subsidiary as a Public Financial Institution under the National Housing Bank proposal.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 June 2025 (HCWS712).

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the lifting of local connection tests for the specified vulnerable groups on social housing demand and allocations in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire.

Regulations were laid on 19 June to ensure that young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse across England do not face unfair barriers to accessing social housing.My Department will be monitoring the impact at local authority level through the Local Authority Housing Statistics and the social housing lettings and sales data returns.We will not be able to assess the potential impact on (a) Milton Keynes or (b) Buckinghamshire specifically.

Communities and Local Government, what criteria her Department plans to use to decide which equity and loan products the National Housing Bank offers to SME developers within its initial £16 billion capital allocation.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 June 2025 (HCWS712).

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of new Infrastructure Levy rules on (a) housing delivery and (b) developer contributions in high-growth areas.

The government has made clear that it does not intend to implement the Infrastructure Levy as introduced in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.Instead, we intend to focus on strengthening the existing system of developer contributions. Further details will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with representative bodies of small businesses on the impact of commercial lease conditions in high street premises on the financial viability of those businesses.

The government recognises that both landlords and tenants have raised concerns about the commercial leasehold framework. That is why the government supports the Law Commission's ongoing review of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which aims to modernise the commercial leasehold framework, ensuring it is fit for today’s market. The Department has sought views on leasing issues from business representative organisations, including those representing small businesses, and is committed to supporting thriving high streets.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new housing in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes has been built on brownfield land in each of the last five years.

The Department publishes a release entitled ‘Land use change: new residential addresses’, which includes information on new residential addresses and the previous land use - including previously developed - on which the addresses were created. This is available at England level, as well as each local authority district, including Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Statistics covering 2019-20 to 2021-2022 can be found in Table P302 on gov.uk here. Figures for more recent years are due to be published in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the level of affordable housing in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.

At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.We will set out set 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.The government has also announced the £450 million third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, followed by an uplift of £50 million, enabling councils to grow their housing stock.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. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a number of changes that make the planning system more supportive of affordable housing, in particular Social Rent homes. These include new Golden Rules for development on the Green Belt. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.

Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department has provided for local infrastructure improvements related to housing development in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the last five years.

The table below lists infrastructure projects in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes that have received capital funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), the Land Release Fund (LRF), or the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) to unlock housing developments in the last five years, up to 31 December 2024.FundSchemeLocation20/2121/2222/2323/2424/25TotalHIFAylesbury Garden TownBuckinghamshire£8.6m£30.0m£23.0m£0.1m£10.0m£71.7mHIFPrinces Risborough Expansion AreaBuckinghamshire-£5.1m£0.2m--£5.3mHIFRealignment of Abbey Barn Lane (project since withdrawn)Buckinghamshire£0.8m£0.4m--£0.2m £1.0mHIFMilton Keynes East Sustainable Urban ExpansionMilton Keynes£2.0m£9.1m£2.2m£53.8m£27.4m£94.6mLRF 2Wing LRFBuckinghamshire£0.2m £0.2mBLRF 2.2Old Country OfficesBuckinghamshire £0.7m £0.7m

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) Buckinghamshire Council and (b) Milton Keynes City Council on (i) housing targets and (ii) local plan development.

As the hon. Member will know, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024 which included a revised standard method designed to direct residential development to where it is most needed and least affordable.The government expects each local planning authority to use the revised standard method to assess local housing needs as a starting point to inform plan-making. Once an assessment has been made, local authorities should take into account land availability, environmental constraints, such as National Landscapes, and other relevant matters, to determine how much of the assessed housing need can be met.The government is clear all local planning authorities should continue work on their local plans and get them in place as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the demand for housing in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the next ten years.

As the hon. Member will know, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024 which included a revised standard method designed to direct residential development to where it is most needed and least affordable.The government expects each local planning authority to use the revised standard method to assess local housing needs as a starting point to inform plan-making. Once an assessment has been made, local authorities should take into account land availability, environmental constraints, such as National Landscapes, and other relevant matters, to determine how much of the assessed housing need can be met.The government is clear all local planning authorities should continue work on their local plans and get them in place as soon as possible.