Written questions by Opher.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to end homelessness; and what steps she plans to take to involve people with lived experience.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across the key government departments with the greatest impact on homelessness to develop a long-term strategy, and an Expert Group bringing together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector. We continue to engage with DEFRA on measures as part of the development of our long-term housing strategy. We are also delivering a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy. We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, grant funding for homelessness services is increasing this year by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total funding to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. Further information on the allocations of homelessness grant funding in the 2025/26 financial year can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-allocations-2025-to-2026 The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on ensuring that constraints on the strategic road network do not prevent local authorities from delivering housing targets set out in their local plans.

The Secretary of State regularly engages with cabinet colleagues on matters of strategic importance. The government recognises the importance of ensuring that new housing development is supported by infrastructure, including transport. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure. A key function of local development plans is to address infrastructure requirements, including how any schemes are to be funded and brought forward. This aspect of plans is publicly examined by an independent Inspector to determine whether a local plan is sound and can be adopted. To further underpin this objective the government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to include a specific requirement to support community-led housing in commissioning the next phases of funds for Homes England.

The government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to include a specific requirement to provide rural affordable housing in commissioning the next phases of funds for Homes England.

The government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to launch a further consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to reduce the cost and complexity for community-led housing providers aiming to build small numbers of affordable homes in rural communities.

The government recognises that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits, including additional housing supply, empowering communities, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy. We are committed to making it easier for community-led developers to develop new affordable homes and to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas.I am committed to working with representatives of the community-led housing sector to consider how the government may support the growth of community led housing over the long term and I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to that end.Our revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 12 December, strengthened provisions to support community-led housing, providing extra clarity and flexibility on the groups that may bring forward community-led housing and on the size of community-led exception sites.We intend to give further consideration to how policy can better promote rural affordable housing as part of our work to produce a set of national policies for decision making in 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the consistency in EPC ratings provided by different assessors; and whether she plans to improve that consistency through changes to (a) methodology, (b) training and (c) regulation.

The Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012 place a duty on accreditation schemes to ensure that Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are produced in a consistent and accurate manner and the energy assessors are suitably qualified and experienced to carry out their duties. Government regularly audits accreditation schemes to assess whether they are fulfilling their duties and takes action to address any issues found.

Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to change the voting system to Supplementary Vote for mayoral elections.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 20691 on 19 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of legislating to enable local authorities in England to adjust council tax rates by increasing them for higher-band properties while limiting increases for lower-band properties.

The government does not have any plans to reform council tax. In line with OBR forecasts made under the previous government, the government will maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept in 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to promote cross-departmental work to strengthen community cohesion.

The Government has made £15 million available to the places most severely affected by disorder through the Community Recovery Fund to support the immediate recovery. Officials from my department have also carried out an extensive engagement process with these places to understand and address the underlying causes of the unrest.The disorder that affected communities across the UK following the Southport tragedy this summer has made clear that a new approach to community cohesion is urgently needed. This is a priority for the Government and I have stood up a cross-government Communities & Recovery Steering Group to oversee this work.We are listening to communities across the country to understand the challenges they face and this will inform how this government works to empower communities and build greater cohesion.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to prohibit a landlord from (a) demanding and (b) accepting more than one month’s rent in advance in respect of a (i) tenancy and (ii) licence of residential accommodation tenancy.

The government recognise that demands for extortionate rent in advance place a considerable financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting altogether.We are very clear that the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance must be prohibited.Although it might be argued that the interaction of the new rent periods in clause 1 of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which are a month or 28 days, and the existing provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019, relating to prohibited payments, provide a measure of protection against requests for large amounts of advance rent, we believe there is a strong case for putting this matter beyond doubt.The government is therefore giving careful consideration as to how best that might be achieved through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Communities and Local Government, if she will set out her timeline for the implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November (HCWS244) which sets out further detail on implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. It also clarifies government's plans to reform leasehold and commonhold.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to bring empty homes back into use.

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 6686 on 14 October 2024.

Communities and Local Government, whether her department has any plans to review the 10% commission charge applied to the sale of park homes by site owner.

The park homes sector is an important part of the housing market and must be a safe and secure place for residents.The Government recognises that there are longstanding concerns about the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home.The Government will set out its position on this matter in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to implement part 10 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

The Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets and tackling the issue of persistent vacancy. To achieve this, we will implement new High Street Rental Auctions as set out in Part 10 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. This will empower local authorities to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants. Secondary legislation will be introduced shortly to enable local authorities to exercise this power.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support cavity-nesting birds on the Red List.

The Government is considering what action may be appropriate to help red-listed birds, including how to drive up rates of swift brick installation in new build properties.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing local authorities to prevent developers land banking in their area.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 900294 on 2 September 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to increase the availability of social housing across England.

The Government is committed to the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather than falling.Our proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework include setting a clear expectation that housing needs assessments must consider the needs of those requiring Social Rent homes, and that local authorities should specify their expectations on Social Rent delivery as part of broader affordable housing policies.We have asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding. The Government has started to review the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012, on which we will bring forward more details and secondary legislation to implement changes in the autumn. We have also announced new flexibilities for how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts to deliver replacement homes; these flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review.We are committed to setting out details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating the use of swift bricks in new build housing.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 4279 on 12 September 2024.