Written questions by Anderson.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that newly-built homes reflect the (a) family size and (b) income of the communities in each local area.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 12 December, makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups in their area, including those who require affordable housing and families with children, and to reflect this in their planning policies.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help protect leaseholders from (a) excessive ground rents and (b) other exploitative practices in the period until secondary legislation is implemented under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to implement secondary legislation under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to increase the availability of affordable housing in Ashfield and Mansfield constituency.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussion she has had with local government representatives on diversity and inclusion projects.

Local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the needs of their local communities, and to decide what diversity and inclusion work they need to carry out.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to provide safe and affordable (a) assisted living facilities and (b) other housing options for elderly citizens.

The government has committed to building 1.5 million new homes in this parliament, including housing for older people.At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. This comes ahead of the multi-year Spending Review next spring, where the Government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme, including assisted living and housing for older people.In our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, we proposed policy changes to deliver more mixed tenure development including housing designed for specific groups such as older people. The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.The government provides funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant, a capital grant administered by local authorities that can help pay the cost of adapting eligible disabled and older people’s homes, regardless of tenure, to allow them to live safely and independently. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test. An additional £86 million for the DFG for 2025-26 was announced in the Budget, bringing the total to £711 million.The last government appointed an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at options for the provision of greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people. We intend to provide an update in relation to the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to intervene where councils have issued a section 114 notice.

This Government recognises that council funding has been under pressure since 2010, and we understand that improving how local government is funded is crucial to enabling councils to deliver for local residents. We will provide councils with more stability and certainty through moving towards multi-year funding settlements and by ending wasteful competitive bidding pots. This will ensure councils can plan their finances for the future properly, delivering better value for money for taxpayers.Councils are responsible for their own finances, and for setting a balanced budget in line with their statutory duties. However, any council that has unmanageable pressures should approach the Government in the first instance.We have recently confirmed that we will have a framework in place to support those in the most difficult positions. This will be a collaborative process, and for example we recently confirmed our intention not to replicate the punitive premium on borrowing for councils needing support which existed under the previous government's framework.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has provided funding to local authorities for diversity and inclusion projects in the last three financial years.

The department funds the Local Government Association (LGA) to deliver a sector support programme for the benefit of local authorities, which during the last three years has included elements of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) work e.g. an online hub housing EDI learning resources and tools, guidance on public sector equality duty and support to councils on the design of EDI policies and services.The department does not maintain a central list of funding to local authorities titled ‘diversity and inclusion projects’ so we are not able to provide that information.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of immigration on the length of waiting lists for social housing in (a) Ashfield and (b) Mansfield district.

The department does not hold information on the immigration status of those on waiting lists. If a person's immigration status does not allow them recourse to public funds, then they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Ashfield District Council has a local connection test in place to determine who qualifies for social housing and Mansfield District Council has both a residency and local connection test.

Communities and Local Government, how many people claimed the single-person discount on council tax in the latest period for which data is available; and what the cost to the public purse was of this discount in the same period.

The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount. This data is available here - Council Taxbase 2023 in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Government does not collect data on the revenue foregone to provide the discount.

Communities and Local Government, how many people claimed the single person discount on council tax in (a) the UK (b) the East Midlands, (c) Mansfield and (d) Ashfield in the latest period for which data is available.

The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount. This data is available here: Council Taxbase 2023 in England. The most recent local authority level data on the number of dwellings entitled to the single person discount in England, can be found here: Council Taxbase: Local authority level data for 2023.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to build more affordable homes.

Due to the failures of the previous Government, the target for the Affordable Homes Programme has been cut from 180,000 to 130,000 homes, or less.Ensuring the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation is a personal priority.We have already:proposed reforms to the NPPFasked Homes England and the GLA to maximise AHP allocations for social rent homesgiven councils new flexibilities on how they spend their Right to Buy receiptsand confirmed we’ll set out more details on Government investment in social and affordable housing in the next Spending Review.