Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78185 on Glenigan, what assessment has Glenigan made of the reasons for sites with planning permission not being (a) started and (b) completed.

Glenigan gathers data from the websites of local planning authorities. They supplement this with additional research tracking expected start and completion dates for the construction phase of larger sites. Glenigan undertakes no systematic labelling of reasons why individual sites have not yet started or completed construction, and my Department is not aware of their publishing any assessments in relation to this specific matter.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104889 on Council tax: surcharge, whether the Valuation Office Agency’s internal calculations for the 1% figure are broken down by local authority.

Fewer than 1% of properties in England are expected to be above the £2 million threshold – this estimate is not broken down by local authority. The Valuation Office Agency will be conducting a valuation exercise using industry standard techniques to identify properties with a value of £2m or above, including their location.

Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the datasets and data sources that have been used to calculate the settlements for individual local authorities in the Local Government Finance Settlement.

Details on how funding allocations were calculated, including datasets and sources, were published in the Final Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029, under the methodology for the Fair Funding Review reforms section, linked here.

If she will list the overseas conferences that Valuation Office Agency officials have attended since July 2024.

The VOA attends a small number of overseas conferences which are an important part of sharing expertise, innovation and best practice. Since July 2024 they have attended the following:Aug 2024 IAAO Conference, Denver;Oct 2024 COVA Conference, Dublin;Dec 2024, International Research Symposium, IAAO, Amsterdam;Mar 2025, IAAO GIS Valuation Technologies Conference, Columbus, Ohio;Sep 2025 IPTI Halifax, Nova Scotia

Whether granting of a planning permission for airport expansion, which has not yet been (a) started or (b) completed, would be deemed a material consideration in the business rates valuation of an airport by the Valuation Office Agency.

The Valuation Office Agency would not deem granting of planning permission for the physical expansion of an airport, which has not yet been (a) started or (b) completed, a material consideration in their valuation of that airport.

Further to the Treasury Select Committee, Work of HM Revenue and Customs - Oral evidence, HC 416, 13 January 2026, Question 465, if she will list the Office for National Statistics datasets that the Valuation Office Agency is using.

The Valuation Office Agency is using the following data from the Office of National Statistics: Census geographies and House Price Index.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026, to Question 104787, on business rates: tax allowances, what is the estimated increase in business rate receipts from not uprating the (a) £12,000 and (b) £15,000 small business rate relief thresholds in line with the increase in average Rateable Values from the 2026 rates revaluation.

The Government does not hold this information.The Government has already started the work of reforming our business rates system by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow.  At Budget, the Government announced the extension of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.

Communities and Local Government, whether there is a plain English guide and formula for business owners to calculate if their premises is eligible for Supporting Small Business Relief.

Local authorities are responsible for the administration of business rates, including decisions on the awarding of and eligibility for various reliefs. Guidance for local authorities on the administration of Supporting Small Business relief was published on 15 December on gov.uk here.The government provides business-facing information on a range of business rates reliefs on gov.uk. Information on Supporting Small Business relief can be found here.Ratepayers should contact their local authority if they have any questions about their business rates bill including reliefs they may be eligible for.

Pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 103000 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what is the evidential basis for the £100 million figure on large distribution warehouses, how many of those hereditaments are paying more, and what is the mean increase in 2026-27 per warehouse.

Details on how large distribution warehouses are impacted by the new high-value multiplier can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier

Pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 105303 on Business Rates: Valuation, on what dates were the summaries of the effect of the 2026 revaluation provided by the VOA to her Department.

The VOA is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. They are required by law to compile and maintain up-to-date rating lists for non-domestic properties in England and Wales, impartially and independent of central government. On 1 April 2024, the VOA began the process of revaluing over 2.1 million non-domestic properties for the 2026 Revaluation. HM Treasury does not receive the full ratings list owing to taxpayer confidentiality. The Treasury worked closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government before Budget once the VOA shared the results of the changes in rateable values. That is why the Government introduced a support package at Budget worth £4.3 billion, to protect ratepayers seeing large bill increases. The VOA published its draft 2026 rateable values on gov.uk on 26 November 2025.

What data HMRC holds on (a) stamp duty revenues for residential dwellings which are primary homes raised and (b) the number of transactions, by local authority area in the last financial year for which figures are available.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collect data via the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return on whether a residential property will serve as a primary residence. However, the Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings (HRAD) apply when an individual acquires a residential property while already owning another piece of residential property anywhere in the world. SDLT paid on homes which did not pay HRAD on a local authority basis can be calculated using Table 4a and Table 4c of the Annual Stamp Tax statistics publication available here: Annual Stamp Tax Statistics - GOV.UK SDLT paid on homes which did not pay HRAD is calculated by subtracting HRAD receipts from Residential receipts and the number of transactions is calculated by subtracting HRAD transaction counts from Residential property counts. Please note that the statistics publication covers the temporary thresholds period ending 1 April 2025 so the HRAD share may be higher than usual.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 101747 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, what estimate he has made of the number of hereditaments that claimed Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26; and whether that estimates includes data on herediatments (i) above and (ii) below the £110,000 cash cap.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 106116 on 23 January 2026.

Further to the urgent question of 19 January 2026 Official Report, Column 25 on Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure, whether it is her policy that business support for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure is reduced relative to 2024-25 levels.

The Government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since the pandemic. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

With reference to the Treasury Select Committee, Work of HM Revenue and Customs - Oral evidence, HC 416, 13 January 2026, Question 442, how many of the additional headcount of 1,000 VOA staff are assigned to work on the council tax surcharge.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is developing its resourcing and recruitment plans for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) work. It is not yet possible to confirm how many VOA staff will be allocated to HVCTS activity, out of the additional 1000 headcount for HMRC as a whole.

Whether it is her policy to replace the business rates system.

The Government has already started the work of reforming our business rates system by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.The Call for Evidence, published at Budget, focuses on how reform of the business rates system can be used to incentivise and secure more investment by Britain’s businesses. This Call for Evidence builds on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asks stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions.Any reforms taken forward will be phased over the course of the Parliament.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the A National Plan to End Homelessness, 11 December 2025, CP1452, whether the new requirement for social housing landlords to rehouse statutory homeless households referred by the council will apply to former asylum seekers who have been given leave to remain.

Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing or homelessness support. If granted refugee status, they become eligible but have their needs considered on the same basis as other households owed a homelessness duty under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

Communities and Local Government, what the status and timetable is of his Department's review of the legal framework of protections for public recreational space announced by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage during the passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Open and green spaces are an essential part of local social infrastructure and must be protected for future generations. The review of existing protections will examine the fragmented and outdated nature of current legislative protections for public recreational green spaces; assess how these protections complement those in the planning system; and consider the lack of central records on protected land. Further details and a timetable will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104671 on Local Government Finance, what information his Department holds on guidance issued by (a) his Department and (b) the Planning Advisory Service on the use of interest accrued on unspent Community Infrastructure Levy funds.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts must be used for the purposes which are set out in section 216 of the Planning Act 2008 and Part 7 of the CIL Regulations.My Department’s published guidance on the CIL includes detailed advice as to what the levy can be spent on. The guidance in question can be found on gov.uk here.Resources published by the Planning Advisory Service are available on their website here. These include a guide to publishing an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Infrastructure Funding Statements should provide clarity and transparency for communities and developers on the infrastructure and affordable housing that is expected to be delivered through developer contributions.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026, to Question 103297, on Local Government Finance, whether areas where mayoral elections have been delayed will have access to any of the £200 million funding before those elections take place other than the initial payment of £1 million a year per combined authority.

The £200 million figure is in reference to the collective Investment Fund amount per year the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive once Mayors are in post in those areas. Before Mayors are elected, and once the institutions are established, government will provide each area with a proportion of their Investment Fund.Beyond the Investment Fund, the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive other sources of devolution funding, including capacity funding.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with the Greater London Authority on extending the 2026 (a) pubs and live music relief and (b) revaluation transitional relief to include increases in business rates from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.

Business rates transitional relief is applied to business rates bills before the effect of other local reliefs or supplements. It therefore has no effect on local business rates supplements, such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.As set out in section 13 of the Business Rates Supplements Act 2009, where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, any applicable Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes. For the coming financial year, this will include adjustments to relevant Business Rates Supplements such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement, for the effect of the Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme and Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026. Further information can be found on the Greater London Authority’s website here.