Written questions by Smart.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered (a) introducing statutory Council Tax relief for properties made uninhabitable by severe weather, natural disasters and climate-related events and (b) compensating local authorities for the cost of providing such relief during periods of severe weather and natural disaster.

The Valuation Office Agency is the organisation responsible for determining whether a property is liable for council tax. Council tax is due on all domestic properties, whether they are occupied or not. However, a property may be removed from the council tax list, and no longer liable for council tax, where it has been fully demolished, is truly derelict or undergoing major renovations. The council tax system contains a range of discounts and exemptions to reflect personal circumstances. The government’s Plain English Guide to Council Tax sets out the support available in the system. Furthermore, councils have the discretionary power to provide their own discounts where they consider this appropriate.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that residents are not left liable for the costs of remediating fire safety defects caused by developer failures and regulatory weaknesses; and whether he plans to take legislative steps to support Resident Management Companies in meeting building safety compliance requirements.

Government has introduced caps for most leaseholders to limit their exposure to building safety costs and worked with industry such that fifty-three developers have, as of 31 October 2025, agreed to fix or pay to fix 2,497 buildings in England with life-critical fire safety defects, at an estimated cost of £4.2bn. When a developer cannot be identified or has not yet agreed to pay for its own buildings, funding has been made directly available to pay for life-threatening fire risks associated with cladding on residential buildings over 11m in height. To support resident management companies, the Building Safety Act introduced remediation contribution orders (RCOs), allowing interested persons (including RMCs) to compel responsible entities to meet remediation costs. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 allowed RMCs to recover the legal costs of raising an RCO from residents where they may otherwise struggle to raise funds. The Government remains committed to strengthening protections for leaseholders from current and future building safety issues and is exploring options to support RMCs in meeting their building safety compliance requirements.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a mechanism allowing councils to insist that property developers are registered with the New Homes Ombudsman to make development applications.

The government expects all housebuilders to deliver high-quality homes and to swiftly resolve issues if and when things go wrong. We have committed to working with the devolved administrations to implement a statutory UK-wide New Homes Ombudsman that developers will have to join and remain members of. This Ombudsman will investigate and resolve complaints and provide new home buyers with redress.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) residents where housing developments cannot be adopted because developers have gone into liquidation.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review housing allocation guidance to ensure that care leavers’ (a) welfare and (b) community ties are taken into account when determining (i) local connection and (ii) housing priority.

Local authorities have discretion to manage their housing registers (waiting lists) and are free to develop solutions that make best use of their social housing stock. Many local authorities have adopted a residency or local connection test for social housing which requires people to have a well-established local association or to have lived in the area for a certain period before they can put their name on the housing waiting list. Statutory guidance also makes clear that local authorities are expected to take proper account of special circumstances, by making provision for appropriate exceptions. We recognise that not all care leavers wish to settle in areas that they have a local connection to. As a result, we laid regulations to exempt care leavers under 25 from local connection or residency tests in order to access social housing. These regulations came into force on 10 July 2025. Statutory guidance was also updated to strongly encourage local authorities to give the same level of priority to those care leavers who have been placed in their authority area and wish to stay, as their own care leavers whom they have a duty to provide support and assistance up to age 25. Local authorities should also consider exempting care leavers more broadly to recognise that a lack of family stability and their experiences whilst in or leaving care might mean that some care leavers may not have a tangible connection to an area. The guidance on social housing allocations, which the government keeps under review, can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that care leavers are able to remain in areas they have (a) links to and (b) family connections in.

Local authorities have discretion to manage their housing registers (waiting lists) and are free to develop solutions that make best use of their social housing stock. Many local authorities have adopted a residency or local connection test for social housing which requires people to have a well-established local association or to have lived in the area for a certain period before they can put their name on the housing waiting list. Statutory guidance also makes clear that local authorities are expected to take proper account of special circumstances, by making provision for appropriate exceptions. We recognise that not all care leavers wish to settle in areas that they have a local connection to. As a result, we laid regulations to exempt care leavers under 25 from local connection or residency tests in order to access social housing. These regulations came into force on 10 July 2025. Statutory guidance was also updated to strongly encourage local authorities to give the same level of priority to those care leavers who have been placed in their authority area and wish to stay, as their own care leavers whom they have a duty to provide support and assistance up to age 25. Local authorities should also consider exempting care leavers more broadly to recognise that a lack of family stability and their experiences whilst in or leaving care might mean that some care leavers may not have a tangible connection to an area. The guidance on social housing allocations, which the government keeps under review, can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for the adoption of (a) highways and (b) drainage infrastructure on completed housing developments.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the supply of homes for social rent in Hazel Grove constituency.

I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to local government funding on the ability of local authorities to provide (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.

The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period. The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most.  By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in providing (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.

The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period. The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most.  By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Communities and Local Government, when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention plans to respond to the correspondence of 16 May 2025 from the hon. Member for Hazel Grove, ref LS06955.

The department provided a response on 29 August 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of Class E to the Use Classes Order on the variety of businesses on high streets.

Class E of the Use Classes Order enables flexibility to change between uses commonly found on the High Street. No recent assessment has been made of the impact of the introduction of Class E on the variety of businesses on the high street.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to prevent local authorities from moving agency contractors onto fixed term contracts.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces, including the terms and conditions offered to contractors. Ministers have little remit to intervene in employment issues within local authorities, except where specific provision has been made in legislation.

Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the number of times that maintenance payments have resulted in people moving out of affordable housing.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders and tenants of social housing.The level of service charge that leaseholders and tenants pay depends on many factors and what those service charges cover will be set out in the terms of the lease and the tenancy agreement.For tenants, service charges typically cover services, with the costs of repairs and maintenance paid for through the rental income social housing providers receive. Government regulates the maximum rent that Registered Providers of social housing can charge for their Social Rent and Affordable Rent homes.By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders and tenants of private registered providers of social housing wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).My Department does not collect data on the number of times that maintenance payments have resulted in people moving out of affordable housing. However, it does collect data on the number of households evicted from local authority owned dwellings due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found at MHCLG Live Table 603 here). Furthermore, the Regulator of Social Housing collects data on the number of households evicted by private registered providers of social housing due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found in additional Table 3.12 on gov.uk here.Social housing tenants and shared owners struggling with rent and service charge costs may be able to receive support through Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.Under the new model lease, shared owners benefit from a 10 year ‘Initial Repair Period’ where their landlord contributes towards essential repairs. This does not cover service charges but does protect shared owners from unexpected repair costs.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to increase the time for which affordable housing associations are required to help with repair costs.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders and tenants of social housing.The level of service charge that leaseholders and tenants pay depends on many factors and what those service charges cover will be set out in the terms of the lease and the tenancy agreement.For tenants, service charges typically cover services, with the costs of repairs and maintenance paid for through the rental income social housing providers receive. Government regulates the maximum rent that Registered Providers of social housing can charge for their Social Rent and Affordable Rent homes.By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders and tenants of private registered providers of social housing wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).My Department does not collect data on the number of times that maintenance payments have resulted in people moving out of affordable housing. However, it does collect data on the number of households evicted from local authority owned dwellings due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found at MHCLG Live Table 603 here). Furthermore, the Regulator of Social Housing collects data on the number of households evicted by private registered providers of social housing due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found in additional Table 3.12 on gov.uk here.Social housing tenants and shared owners struggling with rent and service charge costs may be able to receive support through Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.Under the new model lease, shared owners benefit from a 10 year ‘Initial Repair Period’ where their landlord contributes towards essential repairs. This does not cover service charges but does protect shared owners from unexpected repair costs.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that the maintenance charges charged by affordable housing associations do not limit people’s ability to engage with the affordable housing scheme.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders and tenants of social housing.The level of service charge that leaseholders and tenants pay depends on many factors and what those service charges cover will be set out in the terms of the lease and the tenancy agreement.For tenants, service charges typically cover services, with the costs of repairs and maintenance paid for through the rental income social housing providers receive. Government regulates the maximum rent that Registered Providers of social housing can charge for their Social Rent and Affordable Rent homes.By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders and tenants of private registered providers of social housing wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).My Department does not collect data on the number of times that maintenance payments have resulted in people moving out of affordable housing. However, it does collect data on the number of households evicted from local authority owned dwellings due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found at MHCLG Live Table 603 here). Furthermore, the Regulator of Social Housing collects data on the number of households evicted by private registered providers of social housing due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found in additional Table 3.12 on gov.uk here.Social housing tenants and shared owners struggling with rent and service charge costs may be able to receive support through Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.Under the new model lease, shared owners benefit from a 10 year ‘Initial Repair Period’ where their landlord contributes towards essential repairs. This does not cover service charges but does protect shared owners from unexpected repair costs.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of maintenance payments can on the ability of residents to continue living in homes in affordable housing schemes.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders and tenants of social housing.The level of service charge that leaseholders and tenants pay depends on many factors and what those service charges cover will be set out in the terms of the lease and the tenancy agreement.For tenants, service charges typically cover services, with the costs of repairs and maintenance paid for through the rental income social housing providers receive. Government regulates the maximum rent that Registered Providers of social housing can charge for their Social Rent and Affordable Rent homes.By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders and tenants of private registered providers of social housing wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).My Department does not collect data on the number of times that maintenance payments have resulted in people moving out of affordable housing. However, it does collect data on the number of households evicted from local authority owned dwellings due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found at MHCLG Live Table 603 here). Furthermore, the Regulator of Social Housing collects data on the number of households evicted by private registered providers of social housing due to rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, both or neither (information can be found in additional Table 3.12 on gov.uk here.Social housing tenants and shared owners struggling with rent and service charge costs may be able to receive support through Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.Under the new model lease, shared owners benefit from a 10 year ‘Initial Repair Period’ where their landlord contributes towards essential repairs. This does not cover service charges but does protect shared owners from unexpected repair costs.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing measures to support the redevelopment of vacant commercial properties into affordable housing.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including bringing back into residential use empty homes and the development of under-utilised land and buildings, to meet the need for homes, including social and affordable homes, and other uses. Changes we made to the National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024 broadened the definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and made clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas. On 22 September 2024, we published a 'brownfield passport' policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.

Communities and Local Government, whether they will consider introducing a requirement for companies issuing parking tickets by post to use signed-for delivery services in order to provide proof of receipt.

The government is aware of concerns regarding the poor practises on some parking operators. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. We will be launching a consultation in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of public funding for local leisure facilities.

The Department works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis. This involves looking at a range of cost and demand data, as well as regular engagement with local authorities.The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash-terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced, and can be used to address the range of pressures facing the local government sector. Spending decisions beyond 2025-26, including on funding for local leisure facilities, are a matter for the upcoming Spending Review.