Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the consultation entitled Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime, published on 4 December 2024, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of these proposals on regulatory costs for private sector landlords.

The average cost of an energy performance certificate (EPC) is estimated to be £70 for domestic properties and £400 for non-domestic properties. The average costs for private sector landlords who need to make improvements to their domestic properties as a result of the consultation proposal are between £1,500 - £2,500, with estimated lifetime savings of £6,400. An Impact Assessment has been published alongside the consultation (impact assessment).The EPC is an information tool designed to support people making decisions at the point of buying, renting and retrofitting their properties. The changes in the proposal are intended to help people manage their energy costs and reduce their carbon emissions. Adding new metrics for fabric performance, heating system type and smart readiness to the EPC will provide further information for people about how to reduce their costs and transition to low carbon heating. These new metrics will potentially highlight additional areas for improvements, even for those who have already achieved an EPC C rating under the current system.

Communities and Local Government, through what mechanism small business rate relief is financed; and how local authorities are reimbursed for the cost.

The cost to local authorities of providing small business rate relief was taken into account when setting up the business rates retention system. The Government has also compensated local authorities through additional grants to reflect changes to the small business rates relief scheme since 2013.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15203 on Council Tax: Probate, whether the 12 month period for marketing for sale and let is in addition to the 12 month period for first becoming an empty dwelling before being liable for a premium.

The government’s guidance sets out that the one-year period of marketing for sale or let will begin to run from when the dwelling has first been marketed for sale or let. This period may therefore run concurrently to or immediately following the one-year period during which a dwelling has been empty before the empty homes premium applies.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15832 on Labour: Civil Servants, whether her Departments holds information on how many civil servants other than special advisers were permitted to attend last year’s Labour Party conference.

Guidance on Party Conferences is published on gov.uk and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-and-party-conferences-guidance.Information on the number of civil servants who attended last year's Labour party conference is not held by the department centrally, in line with the guidance. There is no record in MHCLG of any breach of the guidance.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2023 to Question 15517 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Consultants, if she will publish the savings made on consultancy fees in her Department since 5 July 2024.

MHCLG publishes spend on consultancy as part of its annual report and accounts, at which point the savings achieved in financial year 2024/25 will be confirmed.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15929 on Local Government: Standards, what her definition is of regional government; and what the statutory basis is of regional government in England.

The proposed reforms to the local government standards and conduct framework in England would apply to all relevant authorities as defined by Section 27(6) of the Localism Act 2011. This includes bodies such as combined authorities, combined county authorities, and the Greater London Authority.We want to see all of England access this devolved power by establishing Strategic Authorities that can make the key decisions to drive economic growth. Outside of London, these Strategic Authorities should take the form of Combined or Combined County Authorities over areas of genuine strategic scale. The English Devolution Bill will establish in statute a standardised framework of powers for Strategic Authorities.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish her response to the letter from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China of 4 December 2024 on the consultation process for the Chinese Embassy planning application.

The Department does not routinely publish ministerial responses to representations.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15932 on Council of the Nations and Regions, for what reason council (a) leaders and (b) mayors were not invited.

The local government membership of the Council of the Nations and Regions is composed of the directly elected Mayors of combined authorities, combined county authorities, and the Mayor of London. New Mayors established through the English devolution process would also be eligible to sit on the Council of the Nations and Regions. The Government is committed to working productively with local government and has established the Leaders Council to bring together other local government leaders and Ministers to identify and tackle the strategic challenges facing local government.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to integrate the regulatory requirements for private landlords of (a) the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, (b) the Decent Homes Standard, (c) the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, (d) selective licensing and (e) landlord registration.

The government recognises the importance of safe, warm homes for the millions of tenants living in the private rented sector (PRS). Through the Renters’ Rights Bill we will apply a Decent Homes Standard to the PRS to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities. The Bill will also apply ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the sector, which will set clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which PRS landlords must make homes safe where they contain serious hazards. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The government will consider opportunities for alignment and simplification as we implement these regulations and will support landlords with comprehensive guidance. The Renters’ Rights Bill also includes provides to introduce a PRS Database. The new database service will bring substantial benefits to landlords – providing a single source of information about their legal responsibilities and helping them showcase their compliance. It will operate alongside selective licensing to drive improvement in standards in the private rented sector. We will seek to maximise operational efficiency of the database service and Local Authority Selective Licensing schemes, including through sharing data.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain on the sale of land previously used for agriculture.

Mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain was introduced by the previous government through the Environment Act 2021. To support this, an impact assessment was undertaken in 2019 estimating the overall assessed cost of biodiversity net gain to developers and the effect on developable land prices. No subsequent assessment has been made under the current government.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15451 on Renters’ Rights Bill, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Impact Assessments (a) receive clearance from the Regulatory Policy Committee and (b) are published no later than the First Reading of a Bill.

The Department aims to publish Impact Assessments in a timely manner, in line with the ‘Better Regulation Framework’ guidance, which states that an Impact Assessment ‘should be published alongside relevant legislation when it is laid before Parliament.’In exceptional circumstances this may not be possible, for example, where the legislation is urgent, further work is needed following concerns expressed by the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) or where the assessment is with RPC for review. In those circumstances, the Department works with the RPC to ensure the Bill Impact Assessment and RPC opinion is published as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what the (a) full time equivalent and (b) headcount number of staff assigned to work in each of her Department’s offices is.

The location of every departmental office and the number of staff assigned to work in each of those offices as at 31 December 2024, in both (a) full time equivalent and (b) headcount, is set out below.Office LocationFTEHeadcountBelfast2121Birmingham144147Birkenhead8791Bristol163167Cambridge5053Cardiff4445Darlington125127Edinburgh5152Exeter2426Hastings2326Hemel Hempstead5658Leeds163168London2,1632,220Manchester196201Newcastle6667Norwich1212Nottingham7072Plymouth2424Sheffield4851Truro1415Warrington5659Wolverhampton269277Grand Total3,8673,979

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16200 on Local Government: Productivity, for what reason her Department does not routinely publish letters issued to local authorities. .

In line with the practice of successive previous governments, MHCLG does not regularly publish non-public correspondence between Ministers and local authorities. Local authorities are free to publish these letters if they believe it is beneficial to do so.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15441 on Local Government: Staff, how the Local Government Workforce Development Group members will be selected; and whether the membership will be politically balanced.

Membership of the Workforce Development Group is composed of officers from both national and local government organisations. The group is focussed on the common interest of tackling local government workforce issues and is not party political. The inaugural meeting was chaired by the Minister for Local Government, and future meetings will be chaired by a senior official from MHCLG.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) increases to (i) capital gains tax and (ii) stamp duty, (b) fixed term tenancies and evictions in the Renters’ Rights Bill and (c) requiring landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties to a EPC C rating by 2030 on the private rented sector by the end of this Parliament.

There were no changes made to Capital Gains tax residential property rates at Autumn Budget and Spending Round 2024.The increase of the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) by two percentage points does not affect existing landlords, only those looking to enter the market or expand their portfolio. Landlords can still benefit from the lower non-residential rates of SDLT when purchasing six or more properties in a single transaction, or mixed (commercial and residential) property.The Department published the Renters’ Rights Bill Impact Assessment on 22 November 2024. It received a ‘Green’ rating from the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC), indicating that it is ‘fit for purpose’. For landlords that already provide decent homes and a prompt repair service to their tenants, the costs of our reforms, including abolishing fixed terms and introducing reformed possession grounds, are estimated to be just £22 per rented property annually – only 0.2% of mean annual rents.The government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030. The consultation will be accompanied by an assessment of the potential impacts of the proposals.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, how much and what proportion of the £46 million in funding allocated to her Department will be spent on (a) recruitment and training for graduates and apprentices, (b) accelerating large sites waiting for planning approval and (c) upskilling local planning authority capacity.

Details of precisely how the £46 million committed to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities will be allocated is subject to departmental planning, and negotiations are ongoing with delivery partners. Further detail will be provided in due course and the House will be updated in the usual way.

Communities and Local Government, what the average grant subsidy per unit is to build an average affordable dwelling under the (a) social rent, (b) affordable rent and (c) affordable home ownership tenures for the current Affordable Housing Programme.

The Department delegates delivery of the Affordable Homes Programme to Homes England outside London and to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in London. The government agrees budgets and targets with both agencies to deliver the programme’s overall targets for additional homes and specific types of tenure, as well as types of home, including those built using of Modern Methods of Construction and Supported Housing.In awarding contracts under the programme Homes England and the GLA assess the need for grant on a site-by-site basis. In agreeing how much grant a project requires they will take into account the costs for building out the site with how much grant is needed to make that project viable, and the overall value for money for the programme. The most recent publication, with data reflecting grant allocations to the end of March 2023, can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, how many households were on social housing waiting lists in (a) England and (b) London in each year since 2009-10.

The number of households on social housing registers (waiting lists) in (a) England) and (b) London each year since 2009-10 is available in live table 600 here. The number of households on the housing register (waiting list) is not the same as the number of households waiting. Local authorities periodically review their registers to remove households who no longer require housing, so the total number of households on housing registers may overstate the number of households who still require social housing at any one time. The frequency of reviews varies between local authorities. Housing register size may also be affected by other factors. For example, there is the potential for some households to be on the housing register of more than one local authority.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, what financial resources will be made available by her Department to support mayoral combined authorities in bringing forward spatial development plans.

We recognise that strategic authorities will require effective capacity so that they can deliver on the ambitions set out in the English Devolution White Paper, including in relation to proposed Spatial Development Strategies. Any decisions on funding will be a matter for the upcoming Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain on the cost of housebuilding.

Mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain was introduced by the previous government through the Environment Act 2021. To support this, an impact assessment was undertaken in 2019 estimating the overall assessed cost of biodiversity net gain to developers and the effect on developable land prices. No subsequent assessment has been made under the current government.