Written questions by Kirkham.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of facilitating the installation of solar panels on listed properties and properties in conservation areas.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included policies that recognised that the installation of energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures in listed buildings and conservation areas are an important public benefit to be taken into account when determining planning applications.We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has assessed the potential merits of introducing mandatory offer disclosure in Modern Method of Auction property sales.

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team are investigating practices in the auction market involving the submission of misleading or inauthentic bids.The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices by traders in their dealings with consumers, including misleading actions or omissions, which can extend to auction property sales. The Act also requires businesses to act with professional diligence, in line with honest market practice and general principles of good faith.On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. Transparency during the property sales process is one of the core objectives of these reforms. That is why we proposed requiring sellers to provide comprehensive upfront information to buyers and mandating the provision of critical information in property listings. The consultations can be found on gov.uk here and here.

Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on regulating the property agent sector.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 85213 on 4 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to make it easier to re-apply for a postal vote, including the process of uploading a signature.

The Government is committed to ensuring the process for applying or re-applying for a postal vote is as accessible and straightforward as possible. Our online absent voting application service continues to undergo extensive user research and testing with members of the public, including older, less digitally confident and disabled electors, to ensure the service works effectively for a wide range of users. As part of these improvements, the service now includes functionality allowing applicants to rotate their uploaded signature image. This helps users who may have scanned or photographed their signature in the wrong orientation and makes it easier to submit an application successfully. Insights from ongoing research will continue to inform further refinements to improve usability. It is also possible to apply for a postal vote using a paper form, and guidance on how to do so is available on the Gov.uk website. This guidance includes an option to download the relevant paper form. It also includes a tool to allow individuals to look up the contact details for their local electoral registration office, so that they may telephone, email or write to them to request that a paper form be posted to them.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to provide local authorities with standards to help support the construction of flood resilient social homes.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 81948 on 21 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason he proposes the inclusion of holiday lets within the Energy Performance Certificate regime; and whether sector-specific data, including occupancy patterns, energy consumption profiles, and seasonal variations, has been analysed prior to progressing towards regulation.

EPCs help owners better understand the energy performance of their buildings and identify opportunities to improve them. We consulted on proposals to regulate short-term rental properties to have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) at the point of being let, irrespective of whether the occupier is responsible for energy costs, to provide clarity on existing guidance for when furnished holiday lets require EPCs.The impact assessment published alongside our consultation (accessible here: Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime: impact assessment) considered the effects of our proposals for short-term and holiday lets. We are analysing responses to the consultation, including from the short-term let sector, and will publish the Government’s response to the consultation in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Affordable housing set to benefit from £100 million following CMA probe, published on 9 July 2025, whether he has considered the potential merits of allocating the English portion of the £100 million to community-led housing.

As the Competition and Markets Authority set out in its final decision letter published on 30 October 2025 (which can be found on gov.uk here), the government will disburse England’s proportion of the payment to the affordable homes programmes delivered by Homes England and the Greater London Authority. On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority. While maximising supply is at the forefront of the SAHP, the programme is also designed to support greater diversity and supply of the different types of homes that can be delivered, as well as greater diversity in who delivers these homes. We recognise that some types of social and affordable homes that are much needed can often cost more to deliver – such as some homes built by local councils, supported housing, community-led and rural homes. The new programme is designed to be flexible to support the greater diversity of supply needed, and we are asking providers to come forward with ambitious bids that reflect this diversity. 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, whether she has considered introducing additional measures to support first-time buyers.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60807 on 30 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help support landlords to ensure their properties comply with the Decent Homes Standard.

It is imperative that homes are decent, safe and warm. The current Decent Homes Standard (DHS) plays a key role in setting a minimum quality standard that all social homes should meet.The primary source of funding to support landlords in meeting the DHS and to manage the repair and maintenance of existing social homes is rental income. This amounted to £24.5bn in 2023/24.From April 2026, social housing rents will be permitted to increase by CPI+1% annually as part of a new 10-year rent settlement announced at the Spending Review. In addition, we completed a focused consultation on how we will implement social rent convergence, ahead of a final decision to be announced at Autumn Budget.Social housing landlords are required to deliver the outcomes of the regulatory consumer standards, which includes the DHS, set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The RSH proactively seeks assurances that registered providers are meeting the outcomes of the consumer standards through routine inspections of large landlords (those with more than 1,000 homes).The government is extending the DHS to apply to the private rented sector for the first time through the Renters’ Rights Bill. Alongside its introduction to the private rented sector, the government recently consulted on a modernised DHS for private and social rent homes. The consultation closed on 12 September 2025. My Department is now considering the responses to that consultation, and we will set out our response in due course focused on ensuring that the new DHS is proportionate and deliverable.

Communities and Local Government, what support is available for first-time buyers in Cornwall.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership. This government is determined to change that, ensuring that young families and hardworking renters can buy a home of their own. Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability which is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament. In addition, a number of initiatives are in place to support people into home ownership, including through the shared ownership scheme - which will continue to be delivered through the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme - 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. First-time buyers in Cornwall may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.

Communities and Local Government, if she will consider introducing enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks as a condition of being a councillor.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks (‘DBS checks’) for local government members are currently optional; it is for individual local authorities to adopt eligible DBS checks as they feel necessary.I am considering the benefits and disbenefits to potential changes in local government member DBS check policy.

Communities and Local Government, if she will consider introducing stronger (a) censure and (b) sanction options for serious breaches of member codes of conduct in local authorities.

In December 2024 the Government launched a consultation seeking views on proposed measures to strengthen the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England, including the introduction of the sanction of suspension, to empower local authorities to deal appropriately member misconduct where it arises. The Government Response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that fire and rescue services have the (a) personnel and (b) life saving equipment they need to safely respond to incidents of (i) flooding, (ii) wildfires and (iii) other extreme weather events.

The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, published on 3 February by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority.MHCLG also supports fire and rescue authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs.Additionally, since 2024 the government has funded a national resilience wildfire advisor to consider whether additional national wildfire capabilities might be needed within the Fire and Rescue Services and to increase the coordination approaches across the sector.The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure Fire and Rescue Services have the resources they need to protect communities.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken to ensure the effectiveness of permitted development rights for farms.

The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to prevent long leases from becoming assured shorthold tenancies.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish assured shorthold tenancies, so most private rented sector tenancies will be assured tenancies in future. The Bill will also exclude leases over 21 years in length from the assured tenancy regime. This will mean that long leases cannot be considered assured or assured shorthold tenancies once the Bill’s reforms have been brought into force. This will close the ‘Tenancy Trap’, a problem for some leasehold-homeowners where their properties can be repossessed via the assured tenancy possession ground for rent arrears.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to reconstitute the Islands Forum.

My department is continuing to work closely with other UK Government departments to determine the future of the forum, which we will communicate in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that memorandum of understanding agreements with councils for this year’s Shared Prosperity Funding are in place; and whether the deadline for spend will be extended.

Officials are working at pace to ensure that memorandum of understanding agreements for delivery of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) in 2025-26 are distributed to lead local authorities as soon as possible and before the start of the next financial year.UKSPF funding for the 2022-25 period must be incurred on activity that takes place on or before 31 March 2025. There is no flexibility to extend this expenditure deadline. Any UKSPF, Multiply or Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) underspends at the end of 2024-25 must be repaid to MHCLG.

Communities and Local Government, whether there is any recourse to funding available to people wishing to buy a pub in their village in the context of the closure of the Community Ownership Fund.

Community groups seeking funding to preserve community assets, including community pubs, can continue to use the guidance and tools available through the Community Ownership Fund development support provider on the MyCommunity site. These tools have been designed to help any organisation seeking to save an asset that is important to them and their local community and will remain available beyond the programme. The development support provider may also be able to help to suggest alternative sources of funding that organisations could look to secure. This Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and to community empowerment. The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment. There will be further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the community ownership of assets.

Communities and Local Government, if she will introduce the Future Homes and Building Standards as soon as possible.

The Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024; a government response, including implementation plans, has not yet been issued.Government fully supports the need for low carbon homes and buildings, fit for a net zero future. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation and will publish the government response in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will update the Decent Homes Standard to include floor coverings in social rented properties.

There is currently no legislation that requires social housing landlords to provide floor coverings and landlords are not required to remove floor coverings when a home is let to new tenants.The government will consult on a new Decent Homes Standard next year.