Written questions by McMurdock.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the affordability of housing in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

My Department has made no specific assessment of house prices or housing affordability in the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency or the East of England more generally.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on house prices and annual earnings to calculate affordability ratios for national and subnational geographies in England and Wales on an annual basis. This is published on the ONS website here. The East of England average affordability ratio in 2024 was 9.1.The ONS also publishes data on private rental and house prices. The latest release can be found on the ONS website here.The ONS also publishes annual data on private rental affordability in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The latest release can be found on the ONS website here.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with mortgage lenders on their role in supporting home ownership in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

The government is in regular contact with mortgage lenders with a view to understanding their position and current lending conditions.The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I hosted major high street banks on 10 September and called on lenders to make first-time buyers their top priority. The press notice can be found on gov.uk here. The pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the government does not intervene.The UK benefits from a competitive mortgage market with various first-time buyer products available.The government has worked with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England, who have clarified and increased the flexibility of their mortgage regulations. This is helping more customers – especially first-time buyers – to borrow what they need to buy the homes they want, while retaining protections so that lending remains affordable and responsible.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the average age in which people in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency are able to purchase their first home.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership.In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, the government is supporting people into home ownership, including through the shared ownership scheme and the Lifetime ISA.The government has also introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, available to support and sustain availability of low deposit mortgage products for prospective buyers.Additionally, the Bank of England is easing the loan-to-income limit, enabling up to 36,000 additional first-time buyers in the first year.The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ongoing review of the mortgage market means many buyers can now borrow 10% more towards a property purchase. The government looks forward to ambitious proposals from the FCA’s paper.First-time buyers may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of Essex homeowners in financial hardship due to escalating ground rent clauses.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in Essex who have a shared ownership property which are subject to ground rent escalator clauses.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of leaseholders who are affected by escalating ground rent clauses in (a) Essex and (b) the UK.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in Essex who have been able to successfully utilise the help to buy scheme.

A total of 14,665 have accessed Help to Buy in the county of Essex. A breakdown of Help to Buy figures from April 2013 to May 2023 is as follows: Basildon 1,015Braintree 1,469Brentwood 506Castle Point 192Chelmsford 1,437Colchester 2,829Epping Forest 243Harlow 1,280Maldon 546Rochford 585Tendring 1,156Uttlesford 771Southend-on- Sea 507Thurrock 2,129 Total 14,665 Statistics for all Local Authorities can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of first-time buyers in (a) Essex and (b) the UK unable to purchase homes due to ground rent escalator clauses.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homeowners in Essex unable to sell properties due to mortgage lenders refusing to lend to prospective buyers due to ground rent clauses.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 72662 on Timesharing: Regulation, whether this guidance applies to fractional ownership schemes as well as shared ownership schemes.

The guidance referenced in the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 72662 applies specifically to shared ownership schemes that are grant-funded or delivered via Section 106 agreements. Other types of housing ownership scheme or arrangement, that are not grant funded or supported by Government, are not covered by this guidance and are not subject to the same regulatory framework.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the first past the post voting system for local council elections in Essex following local government reorganisation.

The government has no plans to change the electoral system for local elections in England.

Communities and Local Government, whether shadow council elections will operate on existing ward boundaries.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, whether shadow council elections in 2027 for new councils will utilise existing district magnitudes.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has issued guidance to local councils due to be reorganised encouraging the creation of joint committees to advise on measures to synchronise plans for provision of local services.

Unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens. As we set out in ‘Local government reorganisation: Considerations for partnership working in social care for new unitary authorities’ local government reorganisation and wider social care service reforms are a significant undertaking, and authorities will naturally want to collaborate to share knowledge, expertise and learning to maintain a focus on improving service delivery and supporting innovation.If, following consultation, the Secretary of State decides to implement a council’s proposal for unitary local government then secondary legislation, which will be subject to Parliamentary approval, will be required which will include appropriate transitional arrangements. This could include a joint committee to oversee the implementation plan ahead of any elections where appropriate locally. Government will work closely with councils as decisions are made with regard to these arrangements.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance to newly created local councils inheriting different areas with and without adopted local plans in place.

The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.The legal status of local plans is not impacted by local government reorganisation. Where reorganisation occurs, new unitary authorities are expected to promptly prepare a local plan covering the whole of their area. Until that new plan is adopted, existing constituent local plans remain in force as part of the development plan for their area. New unitary authorities will have the discretion to progress emerging constituent local plans. A new legal framework for local-plan making will be introduced later this year. Significant financial assistance has already been provided to eligible authorities to support plan-making and authorities should make the most of other support available through the Local Government Association’s Planning Advisory Service.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to support newly formed councils inheriting debts from councils due to be abolished in local government reorganisation.

In general, as with previous rounds of local government reorganisation, there is no proposal for council debt to be addressed centrally or written off as part of reorganisation. However, the government accepts that Woking Borough Council and Thurrock Council hold significant and exceptional unsupported debt, related to capital practices, that cannot be managed locally in their entirety. The government has committed to providing debt repayment support for both these councils. Any support will need to consider what further action these councils can take locally within their capacity to reduce debt, and value for money for the national and local taxpayer. We will continue to work with both these councils and Best Value Commissioners on the issue of their unmanageable debt and provide further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance to newly created local councils who inherit areas at different stages of the local plan-making process and have not adopted a local plan.

The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.The legal status of local plans is not impacted by local government reorganisation. Where reorganisation occurs, new unitary authorities are expected to promptly prepare a local plan covering the whole of their area. Until that new plan is adopted, existing constituent local plans remain in force as part of the development plan for their area. New unitary authorities will have the discretion to progress emerging constituent local plans. A new legal framework for local-plan making will be introduced later this year. Significant financial assistance has already been provided to eligible authorities to support plan-making and authorities should make the most of other support available through the Local Government Association’s Planning Advisory Service.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that newly created councils holding shadow elections in 2027 have newly drawn wards compliant with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England's criteria.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the affordability of housing for young people in East England.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people, including key workers, are now locked out of homeownership. In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, the government is supporting people into home ownership, including through the shared ownership scheme and the Lifetime ISA. The government has also introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, available to support and sustain availability of low deposit mortgage products for prospective buyers. First-time buyers in East England may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce targeted housing initiatives to support young people in high-cost areas.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people, including key workers, are now locked out of homeownership. In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, the government is supporting people into home ownership, including through the shared ownership scheme and the Lifetime ISA. The government has also introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, available to support and sustain availability of low deposit mortgage products for prospective buyers. First-time buyers in East England may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.