Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's statistics entitled Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England: April to June 2025, published on 19 September 2025, what data Glenigan collects for his Department; and whether Glenigan provides figures on unbuilt-out planning permissions.

My Department obtains a range of planning-related data from Glenigan Ltd through a contract. Its estimates of the numbers of residential planning permissions granted are routinely published in its quarterly statistical releases. The data provided by Glenigan Ltd includes information on developments that have been granted permission but do not constitute robust estimates of the number of planning permissions that have not been built out.

Communities and Local Government, under what circumstances would the HM Land Registry not publish title deeds on the gov.uk website following the purchase of a dwelling.

HM Land Registry does not publish title deeds on gov.uk. Instead, it maintains a register, which is the official and definitive record of land and property ownership in England and Wales. Once a property is registered, the register itself serves as proof of ownership. There is no requirement for title deeds to confirm ownership. An official copy of the register or title plan provides a true and legally recognised record of the property’s ownership and boundaries at a specific point in time. While a property is the process of being registered with HM Land Registry, it will not appear on the register until that registration has been completed. However, legal ownership rights are secured and protected from the moment the application is received by HM Land Registry, not at the point at which processing of the application is completed. Applicants can contact HM Land Registry to check on the progress of their application. Processing times for completing different application types can be found on GOV.UK. Under the Land Registration Act 2002, the register, title plan, and certain associated documents are publicly accessible to all. These can be obtained for a small fee via the ‘search for land and property information’ service on gov.uk which can be found here. It should be noted that not all documents submitted during the registration process are retained, and not all retained documents are available electronically. Access to documents is subject to the Land Registration Rules 2003. Some documents—such as identity documents—are classified as “excepted documents” and are not made available to the public.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of whether overseas electors in (a) Australia and (b) UAE can receive postal ballot papers posted from the United Kingdom in line with the legal deadlines for returning them.

The responsibility for arranging the timing and dispatch of postal votes sits with the Returning Officer for each electoral area. As such, it falls to them to assess the likelihood of an elector’s postal ballot pack being dispatched, returned and completed before the close of poll. The Electoral Commission advises Returning Officers to prioritise overseas postal ballot packs. Since 2016, the Government has supported Returning Officers by funding the use of the International Business Response Licence - which expedites the return of ballot packs from overseas, as well as covering any postage costs that might otherwise be incurred. The Electoral Commission also advises that, in cases where it may not be realistic for a postal ballot pack to be dispatched, completed and returned before the close of poll, the Electoral Registration Officer should make the elector aware of this and advise that they vote by proxy instead. The online absent vote application service includes similar advice for electors applying for a postal vote.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to repeal the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695.

The majority of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695 was repealed by the Representation of the People Act 1948. The one remaining section (section 7) related to the minimum age of candidacy for elections to the House of Commons and was repealed by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 when that Act reduced the minimum age of candidacy for elections to the House of Commons from 21 to 18 years.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 69673 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, if he will list the expected level of attendance expectations at each of his Department's offices by (a) percentage and (b) location.

All Senior Civil Servants in the Department are expected to attend an office for 60% of the time, irrespective of which office they are based in. Staff at delegated grades are currently expected to attend for 50% of the time, with the exception of staff in the following offices who are currently expected to attend for 40% of the time due to capacity constraints; Darlington, Hemel Hempstead, Manchester, Sheffield and Wolverhampton. The ambition of the Department is for all staff to attend an office for 60% of the time in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 75449 on MHCLG: Standards, if he will list each metric presented on the Ministerial Delivery Dashboard.

MHCLG uses a range of metrics and data to monitor and track delivery progress on key departmental priorities, as well as support policy development and decision-making. The table below shows a list of the publicly available metrics included in the dashboard. PriorityMetricBuild 1.5m new homesNet additional homesBuild 1.5m new homesHousing startsBuild 1.5m new homesHomes granted planning permissionBuild 1.5m new homesNew affordable housing by type of tenureBuild 1.5m new homesNew affordable housing supply (gross) by regionBuild 1.5m new homesPermanent dwellings completed by providers (LA / Housing associations)Build 1.5m new homesPermanent dwellings started by providers (LA / Housing associations)Build 1.5m new homesRolling annual number of first-time buyers with a mortgageBuild 1.5m new homesHouse price to workplace-based earnings ratioBuild 1.5m new homesAnnual rental inflation - all rentsBuild 1.5m new homesNew lets (Zoopla)Building remediationCompletions as a percentage of buildings estimated to need worksBuilding remediationStarts on site as a percentage of buildings estimated to need worksBuilding remediationThe number of buildings identified as a percentage of buildings estimated to need worksHomelessness & rough sleepingNumber of families in temporary accommodationHomelessness & rough sleepingNumber of families in B&B accommodationHomelessness & rough sleepingTotal number of people sleeping rough (according to autumn snapshot)Homelessness & rough sleepingNumber of people who are sleeping rough over the course of the monthDevolutionDevolution depth and coverageLocal government financial stabilityPercentage of upper tier local authorities in 'high' and above risk categoriesLocal government financial stabilityNumber of local authorities receiving financial supportCommunity & cohesionPercentage of people agreeing that they can personally affect local decisionsCommunity & cohesionPercentage of people satisfied with their local area as a place to liveCommunity & cohesionPercentage of people agreeing that people in their immediate neighbourhood can be trustedCommunity & cohesionPercentage of people with each level of trust in general

Communities and Local Government, what (a) Home England's and (b) his Department’s definition is of a housing start.

When referring to housing starts, my Department uses the definition for “new build dwelling start” in housing supply statistics and “start on site” in its affordable housing statistics. Homes England also uses the term “start on site” to refer to housing starts. Both terms are defined in the Housing Statistics and English Housing Survey glossary which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has undertaken research on the potential impact of rent controls on the housing market.

My Department regularly reviews external research and evidence related to various aspects of the private rented sector. The government has been clear it does not support the introduction of rent controls, including rent stabilisation measures. We believe they could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 15 September 2025, to Question 72839, on Planning Permission, whether the increased digitalisation of the planning system review will examine removing the requirement for statutory notices to be placed in local newspapers.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 75991 on 26 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the answer of 5 August 2025 to Question HL9889 on Asylum: Housing, what the £500 million will be spent on; over what time period that funding is for; and whether it will involve a bidding process.

As allocated as part of the Spending Review, the government is investing £500 million in a new, more sustainable asylum accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities.The model supported by this funding will be delivered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in partnership with the Home Office and local authorities.Its aim is to deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers by supporting local authorities to make available basic alternative accommodation that can be used on a temporary basis to house asylum seekers waiting for their cases to be processed. In the longer term, our intention is to ensure that the accommodation made available benefits local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.We continue to engage with local government on the design of the model and will confirm the process for distributing funding in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 68122 on Business Premises: Rents, if he will publish that research.

The government published a full Impact Assessment upon First Reading of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill on 10 July. All sources for our analysis are included within it.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 73599 on Personal Pensions: Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the treatment of self-invested personal pensions in relation to local council tax support.

The Department has not issued guidance on the treatment of self-invested personal pensions in relation to local council tax support schemes. Support for working age households is designed by councils in consultation with their residents, taking into account the needs and circumstances of their local communities. Pension-age council tax support is centrally prescribed in the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012. The regulations set out how income and capital are to be treated when determining the level of support, including various types of retirement pension income.

Communities and Local Government, what information his department holds on the (a) amount of green belt that has been de-designated and (b) number of developments that have been built on green belt land since the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024.

As part of our annual Green Belt release, my Department published the extent of England’s Green Belt as at 31 March 2025. It can be found on gov.uk here. These statistics give the area of land designated as Green Belt by local authority in England, and also provide details on each local authority who made changes to their Green Belt between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Data is collected by financial year. Figures for 2025-26 will be published in our next release at the end of 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether the provision of (a) short-term and (b) long-term accommodation for asylum seekers is included within the target of 1.5 million new homes.

The government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million new homes in England in this Parliament.Progress against this commitment is being measured through net additional dwellings. The types of accommodation included are defined on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of new build homes that were sold in the last 12 months.

My Department does not hold the requested data.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 74221 on Business Rates: Tax Allowance, whether any central government body is responsible for monitoring rate relief fraud across local authorities.

Business Rates are a local tax and local authorities are responsible for decisions on the awarding of relief, ensuring compliance, and tackling fraud. The Government also provides local authorities with data-matching services to help detect fraud and errors in business rates by comparing different datasets, through the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI).

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 71488 on Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, who the members are of the social cohesion taskforce.

As outlined in my response to Question 71488, the Social Cohesion Taskforce is an internal Civil Service team comprised of civil servants.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Answer of 19 September 2025 to Question 75610 on Anti-muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group, whether the working group (a) received and (b) accepted responses from extremist organisations.

The Working Group launched a Call for Evidence to build on the extensive engagement they had undertaken. The Call for Evidence closed on Sunday 20 July. It was open to the public and any individual or organisation was able to submit evidence. The Working Group did not engage with any organisations that are subject to the Government’s non-engagement policy.

Communities and Local Government, whether the former Deputy Prime Minister has received a Ministerial severance payment.

Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2025 to Question 69052 on Belong: Contracts and with reference to Belong's press release entitled Belong commissioned by MHCLG to develop national cohesion guidance in partnership with the LGA, published on 1 May 2025, how much funding his Department is providing to Belong to develop the national cohesion guidance; and if he will publish the contract for that funding agreement.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 75178 on 12 September 2025.