Written questions by Prinsley.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost-savings to residents of the requirement of new homes to be fitted with heat pumps.

The Future Homes Standard (FHS) has now been published and will come into force on 24 March 2027. The Impact Assessment for the FHS does not isolate the savings attributable to heat pumps alone, as it considers the overall performance of homes built to the FHS rather than individual technologies in isolation. Compared to a typical existing home with an EPC rating of C, homes built to the FHS could save families up to £830 a year on their energy bills. These estimates reflect the combined impact of much higher fabric efficiency, low‑carbon heating such as heat pumps and, in most cases, on‑site renewable electricity generation such as solar PV.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities and their partners on responding to rough sleeping in town centres, including engagement with local businesses, and on meeting safeguarding and homelessness prevention duties.

Through our National Plan to End Homelessness, the government has committed to developing an Outreach Toolkit, alongside a Single Homelessness and Complex Needs Toolkit. Together these will provide advice on designing and delivering services, including on effective outreach, accommodation pathways including the role of housing-led solutions, including Housing First, and enforcement. These toolkits will build on the support available to local authorities through my Department’s team of expert advisers and guidance published through gov.uk here. This includes specific guidance on safeguarding, which you can find here.

Communities and Local Government, what consideration is given to the provision of bungalows and other accessible housing for older people in new housing developments; and whether he plans to strengthen national planning policy to encourage a greater proportion of age-appropriate homes in areas experiencing significant housing growth.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 102355 on 12 January 2026, UIN 101501 on 7 January 2026 and UIN 50375 on 23 May 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle the use of estate management charges on new-build and privately managed housing estates in cases where freehold homeowners continue to pay ongoing maintenance fees for roads, lighting and green spaces that have been adopted by local authorities and for which residents already pay council tax; and whether the Government plans to strengthen regulation of private estate management companies to improve transparency, accountability and residents’ rights.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the presence of (a) United States visiting forces and (b) their dependents on local government finances in West Suffolk; and if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of direct compensation to affected councils.

The different relative strengths of the tax bases of councils in England are taken into account in the Local Government Finance Settlement through the Settlement Funding Assessment (SFA) formula, which is used to calculate the SFA allocation that each authority is given.When the Settlement Funding Assessment was last calculated in 2013/14, Class P exemptions (meaning that the property will be exempt where members and their dependants of visiting forces would be liable for council tax if property is occupied or unoccupied) were considered within the calculation.This led to West Suffolk receiving an increased share of grant and retained business rates to account for the loss in council tax income. From our assessment in 2013 to 2024, the number of Class P exempt dwellings in West Suffolk has increased by 171 to 4,872, an increase of 2%.The Government has committed to updating the approach to funding allocations within the Local Government Finance Settlement.