Written questions by Moon.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to reform the Shared Ownership system.

Shared ownership has an important role to play in supporting households into home ownership who would otherwise struggle to purchase a property on the open market that meets their needs. The Government is aware that some people who have entered shared ownership have faced significant challenges with their properties and there is ongoing consideration of what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners, including consideration of the former Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee’s report recommendations on shared ownership.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of resolving shared ownership arrangements of properties where offshore freehold ownership precludes staircasing.

Leases for shared ownership properties, whether these are grant funded or Section 106 delivery, must follow one of the shared ownership model leases provided by Homes England or the Greater London Authority. These model leases contain a fundamental clause which ensures that staircasing is permitted. In certain types of shared ownership, staircasing is however restricted to below 100%, this is to ensure properties remain as affordable housing in perpetuity. Properties sold by private developers, and without grant funding or through Section 106, are not required to follow a model lease when sold via a shared ownership arrangement.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations set out in the Fifth Report of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on Shared Ownership, Session 2023-24, published on 26 March 2024, HC 61.

Shared ownership has an important role to play in supporting households into home ownership who would otherwise struggle to purchase a property on the open market that meets their needs. The Government is aware that some people who have entered shared ownership have faced significant challenges with their properties and there is ongoing consideration of what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners, including consideration of the former Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee’s report recommendations on shared ownership.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the level of risk of eviction of social housing tenants who remain in a property after a joint tenant has served notice to quit (a) in cases involving relationship breakdown and (b) in general.

Joint periodic tenancies can be ended unilaterally by one of the joint tenants.Once one of the joint tenants terminates a joint tenancy, then as a matter of law it ceases to exist and the landlord has a right of possession, though that may be challenged in the Courts.Social landlords, subject to complying with their own allocations policies, have the flexibility to provide a new tenancy to a current resident where a notice to quit is served, either for the same property or for a different property.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of improving basic amenities for Park Home residents.

On privately owned park home sites, the site owner is responsible for the amenities on site. Site owners are required to have a site licence, issued by local authorities. Local authorities have discretion to attach conditions to licences which may cover matters such as the site amenities, physical standards, and layout of the park. The Mobile Homes Act 2013 gave local authorities substantial enforcement powers to ensure they can take action if a site owner is found to have breached any of their site licence conditions.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take into account (a) remoteness and (b) peripherality of areas such as Cornwall when determining funding settlements for deprived areas.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, on which we will further consult following the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year. We are keen to develop these reforms in partnership with the sector and to understand views from across local government on factors affecting the demand and need for services, including in rural areas like Cornwall.

Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to increase clarity in the process of allocating funding to local areas through (a) consultation on their development and (b) publication of detailed methodology.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. The government set out its six key guiding principles for funding reform, of which one is transparency. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, on which we will further consult following the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year. We will publish and seek views on methodologies as part of this consultation.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take into account low wages in rural areas when determining funding settlements for deprived areas.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, on which we will further consult following the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year. We are keen to develop these reforms in partnership with the sector and to understand views from across local government on factors affecting the demand and need for services, including in rural areas like Cornwall.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take into account non-resident population seasonal increases due to tourism when determining funding settlements for deprived areas.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, on which we will further consult following the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year. We are keen to develop these reforms in partnership with the sector and to understand views from across local government on factors affecting the demand and need for services, including in rural areas like Cornwall.

Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to help tackle shortages of professional services in design and planning stages of (a) infrastructure and (b) housing.

Professional services across the built environment are vital to delivering both infrastructure and housing.A significant amount of beneficial and innovative work is being undertaken by the sector to identify and deliver the professional skills that will be needed in the future, ensuring that it can continue to offer services to further development. My answer to Question UIN 28327 on 13 February 2025 also sets out the programme in place to enable planning local authorities to access relevant skills. This will be further underpinned by the fee increases for planning services that is being implemented from April 2025 which will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can access the skills they need.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take into account super-ageing demographics such as in Cornwall when determining funding settlements for deprived areas.

Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, on which we will further consult following the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year. We are keen to develop these reforms in partnership with the sector and to understand views from across local government on factors affecting the demand and need for services, including in rural areas like Cornwall.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including (a) ground source heat pumps and (b) shared ground loops in the Future Homes Standard.

The Building Regulations prescribe performance outcomes, rather than specific technologies, materials or fuels to be used. This allows builders and homeowners the flexibility to innovate and select the most practical and cost-effective solutions appropriate in any development.However, the upcoming Future Homes Standard will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and towards more clean, secure energy. The future is likely to see a mix of low carbon technologies used for heating, including heat pumps and heat networks. Ground source heat pumps and share ground loops are effective technical solutions which are very much aligned with the ambition of the Future Homes Standard.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to regulate short-term lets.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 43634 on 8 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the Cornish language from Part II to Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The Government has received a request from Cornwall Council to extend the protection of the Cornish language from Part II to Part III of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. The request is currently being considered and a formal response will be issued in due course.