Written questions by Allin-Khan.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to strengthen standards relating to sound insulation in residential properties.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help improve conditions in temporary accommodation.

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the h...

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local authorities are sufficiently resourced to a) meet increases in temporary accommodation costs and b) fund their preventative duti

We are providing £3.6 billion in funding for homelessness, prevention and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29. The largest element of this is the is the Homelessness Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant. Using a bespoke formula that reflect...

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a legislative framework for the provision of temporary accommodation to include minimum suita

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the h...

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of an independent regulator for (a) temporary accommodation and (b) other social housing.

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the h...

Communities and Local Government, how many social housing tenancies have been let to domestic abuse survivors in each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25.

The number of new social lettings to households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse can be found in the ‘Social Housing Lettings’ statistics tenants tables 3p and 3pi on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the potential impact of people who have experienced domestic abuse being allocated unfurnished dwellings on the well-being of those people.

This government is committed to halving violence against women and girls within a decade. We have committed £550 million for victims’ services, with an additional 2% uplift each year, and £499 million over the next three years to support in safe accommodation for victims of abuse.People living without essential furniture, including victims of domestic abuse, can access support through their local authority, including via the Household Support Fund until 31 March, and from April, the Crisis and Resilience Fund, to provide discretionary help with essential items such as furniture.The government consulted on proposals to reform the Decent Homes Standard for both the social and private rented sectors. As part of this, we sought views on how furniture provision could be addressed within best practice guidance. Our response to the consultation was published in January 2026, confirming our commitment to issue guidance relating to furniture provision. The consultation response can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children being refused (a) homelessness relief and (b) homelessness prevention duties by local authorities in England.

My Department publishes quarterly data on the number of households that do not qualify for a homelessness duty after initial assessment which you can access on gov.uk here. The Department provides clear guidance for local authorities in exercising their homelessness functions, including taking decisions on duties owed, in the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which you can access here. I wrote to council leaders and chief executives on Wednesday 25 February setting out local authorities’ legal duties to homeless families with children under the Housing Act 1996 and Children Act 1989.

Communities and Local Government, whether his department plans to publish timetables for the release of funds to local authorities for the delivery of housing for people seeking asylum.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 114248 on 2 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent young people from becoming homeless.

We are taking action across government to provide targeted support to young people and their families at an earlier stage. The government has provided more than £1 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services this year, which councils can use to meet the needs of people in their area including young people. Through our National Plan to End Homelessness we also committed to develop a national Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit and develop a dedicated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance on young people, to support councils to work collaboratively with other public services to prevent youth homelessness.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of affordable housing options for young people on low incomes.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 104603 on 19 January 2026, and UIN 87891 on 11 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the efficacy of the Housing First pilots on tenancy sustainment for people experiencing homelessness.

The government published an evaluation of Housing First Pilots, including a final synthesis report in October 2024. You can find the evaluation reports on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.

Leasehold and commonhold reform are key priorities for this government and we remain determined to honour the commitments made in our manifesto and do what is necessary to finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end. As per my letter to the Chair of the Select Committee dated 18 December 2024, the government expect to be in a position to publish the draft Bill for scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring an Electrical Installation Condition Report at the point of sale of a property.

On 6 October 2025, the government published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.The consultations include proposals to mandate the provision of upfront property information.Final decisions are subject to the outcome of these consultations.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenant references when requested.

Where a landlord has requested a reference from a previous landlord and is unable to obtain this, we encourage landlords to make use of other available referencing criteria to give them and the tenant the confidence that the tenancy is suitable. This is already common practice for tenants renting for the first time or those from abroad. Local authorities may also offer guarantee schemes or assistance with rent payments to help people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness to secure a property when they may otherwise struggle to do so. The Government has no plans to introduce a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenants references when requested.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help support tenants who are unable to secure new tenancies due to private landlords failing to provide references upon request.

Where a landlord has requested a reference from a previous landlord and is unable to obtain this, we encourage landlords to make use of other available referencing criteria to give them and the tenant the confidence that the tenancy is suitable. This is already common practice for tenants renting for the first time or those from abroad. Local authorities may also offer guarantee schemes or assistance with rent payments to help people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness to secure a property when they may otherwise struggle to do so. The Government has no plans to introduce a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenants references when requested.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had recent discussions with L&Q housing association.

Officials in MHCLG regularly engage with representatives from across the housing sector, including local authorities, housing associations, developers and other groups.Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of independence of the Property Redress Service.

My Department monitors the performance of Property Redress through monthly data returns and regular governance meetings. We take all complaints about their services seriously. Where they arise, we challenge the schemes if we receive suggestions that they have failed to meet the standards to which they subscribe. We are satisfied with the responses to date. Property Redress are approved as a competent alternative dispute resolution provider under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of this, they are subject to periodic review and required to demonstrate how their decision making remains independent.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Property Redress Service in dealing with complaints.

My Department monitors the performance of Property Redress through monthly data returns and regular governance meetings. We take all complaints about their services seriously. Where they arise, we challenge the schemes if we receive suggestions that they have failed to meet the standards to which they subscribe. We are satisfied with the responses to date. Property Redress are approved as a competent alternative dispute resolution provider under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of this, they are subject to periodic review and required to demonstrate how their decision making remains independent.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of empty properties on the rental market in (a) Tooting and (b) Greater London.

Statistics on empty properties are published annually and are accessible on gov.uk here. We do not hold records on vacant homes per constituency.Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.