Written questions by Shannon.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the number of families in temporary accommodation.

I regularly discuss homelessness issues with my counterparts in the devolved administrations and most recently met the Minister for Communities on Tuesday 25 November.

Communities and Local Government, if he will include provisions in the forthcoming National Development Management Policies to increase the number of stepping stone housing models across local authority areas.

We will consult later this year on a suite of new national policies for decision-making. Further details will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help families in lower socio-economic groups who are unable to afford private sector rental prices.

Housing is a devolved matter within the competency of the Northern Ireland Assembly.The government provides financial support to low-income private renters in England through a range of mechanisms including the housing element of Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payments, and the Household Support Fund.The Renters’ Rights Act contains a large number of provisions that will benefit low-income private renters in England. These include measures that empower private tenants to challenge unfair rent increases without fear of eviction; make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children; and end the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords and agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve (a) sewage lines and (b) other housing infrastructure.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to questions UIN 65505 on 14 July 2025 and UIN 77897 on 17 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department provides to the Northern Ireland Executive to help make derelict properties (a) safe and (b) habitable.

Housing is a devolved matter within the competency of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The UK Government supports the Northern Ireland Executive through a variety of funding streams.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve social housing completion rates.

On 2 July, the government set out its five-point plan for kickstarting a decade of social and affordable housing renewal. Taken together, the grant funding support and regulatory certainty and stability that this government is providing will enable Registered Providers to quickly ramp up investment in existing and new stock. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on that day (HCWS771). Section 106 agreements are, and will remain, an essential mechanism for delivering social and affordable housing. The government continues to progress work on a holistic policy package that will deal with the legacy problem of existing uncontracted S106 units and also prevent the problem recurring by laying the foundations for a simpler, more transparent, and more resilient S106 system. On 25 May, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) which included proposals to implement a new power for authorities to decline to determine planning applications made by developers who fail to build out at a reasonable rate. The consultation closed on 7 July and we are currently considering all feedback received.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing tenants' protections from eviction after landlords have accessed grants to improve energy efficiency.

The government recently consulted on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation included proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030. The consultation closed in May this year and DESNZ are currently reviewing responses ahead of publishing a response. The government is committed to protecting and improving the rights of tenants. The Renters’ Rights Bill will put in place new regulations to protect tenants. This includes providing stronger protections to ensure that tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents, abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’, and moving to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies ae periodic. These measures provide more security for tenants and enable them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction.

Communities and Local Government, how much has been spent on public realm schemes in England in the last 12 months.

The information requested is not held centrally. This Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets.  The Plan for Neighbourhoods provides £1.5bn to support up to 350 communities across the country.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the devolved Administrations on measures to help support leaseholders who experience increases in ground rents.

The legislation governing leasehold ownership currently applies only in England and Wales. The policy area is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and it would be for the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly to determine whether, and how, they might wish to legislate on such matters. In respect of England and Wales, the government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation. We are continuing to work closely with the Welsh government to drive forward our ambitious leasehold and commonhold reform programme.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of first-time buyers in each of the last five years.

The Department does not hold official data on the total number of first-time buyers over the past five years and is therefore unable to provide an official estimate.However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on the number of first-time buyer mortgage sales by Local Authority across the UK, which can be found on gov.uk here. This data set does not include cash sales.In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provides UK-wide totals for the same data, available here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) tackle local authority financial deficits and (b) improve local authority value for money.

This government recognises the pressures local authorities are facing because of their Dedicated School Grant (DSG) deficits. The Department for Education Spending Review settlement confirmed funding for reform of the current Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system, details of which will be set out in a White Paper in the autumn. The government will commence a phased transition process which will include an extension to the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override, currently due to end in March 2026, until the end of 2027-28. The government will provide more detail by the end of the year including a plan for supporting local authorities with both historic and accruing deficits. We will set out more detail at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.Furthermore, through this Spending Review we are providing an additional £3.4bn of grant funding for local authorities in 2028-29 compared to 2024-25 and the government has committed to reforms which will mitigate the growing pressures on Local Government services and achieve better value for money.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of allotments in the UK.

My Department does not hold data on the number of allotments in the UK.

Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on reaching housing targets.

The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions.The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here.Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here.The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help prevent dangerous parking in residential areas.

Parking is the responsibility of local authorities, and they are best placed to decide what is best for their local area. Local Authorities are empowered to determine their parking arrangements through the Traffic Management Act 2004, which requires them to ensure that parking policies be proportionate, support town centre prosperity, and reconcile competing demands for kerb space whilst ensuring traffic moves freely and quickly on their roads and the roads of nearby authorities.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on park homes of her Department's report entitled The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published on 16 June 2022.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44299 on 16 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help improve the condition of social housing properties.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 6 February 2025 (HCWS423).

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of flood recovery funding over the last 12 months.

Flood recovery is a devolved responsibility. The Flood Recovery Framework provides swift, responsive financial support packages to communities, households and businesses suffering the impacts of severe flooding with schemes from MHCLG, DBT and Defra in England. A post activation review of the flood recovery framework following storm Babet Oct 2023 and Storm Henk January 2024 has taken place and is accessible here: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of social housing.

This government is clear that there is a chronic shortage of social rented housing as a result of its undersupply over recent years.That is why we are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.For an overview of our policies in this area, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41721 on 3 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with large banks on the potential merits of re-introducing the help to buy scheme for first time buyers.

The government has no plans for another Help to Buy scheme and the Deputy Prime Minister has not had any discussions with large banks about its reintroduction.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on funding safe houses for victims of domestic abuse.

Matters related to domestic abuse, including provision of safe accommodation, are devolved in Northern Ireland and managed by the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive received £18.2 billion from the UK Government for 2025-26, the largest financial settlement in real terms in the history of devolution. It is for the Executive to decide how it utilises this funding. UK Government ministers talk regularly to counterparts in Northern Ireland across the full range of government business, including at the Interministerial Group for Housing, Local Governments and Communities which is next meeting in summer.