Speeches by Pennycook.

“I have met Northern Housing Consortium on a number of occasions. My hon. Friend will know that funding from the social and affordable homes programme can be used to support the regeneration of existing social housing estates. If he wants to write to me with further details about some of the recommendations he has sugge…”

“I can give my hon. Friend the assurances he seeks, and I encourage him and his constituents to engage with proposals in the consultation on a revised national planning policy framework that seek further to strengthen support for brownfield development and ensure that appropriate infrastructure provision comes forward a…”

“We need to understand this issue better, because answers were not forthcoming in the consultation carried out under the previous Government regarding the rationale for the commission. I assure the hon. Gentleman that in the very near future we will go out to consult and to find more evidence, so that we can take the ac…”

“It is probably easier if my hon. Friend writes to me on those particular concerns in her area, and I will set out the Government’s full position. I am happy to discuss the matter that she raises in further detail.”

“I can provide my hon. Friend with the assurance that he seeks. Whether in the PRS or in the social rented sector, landlords should address non-decency wherever it exists. We are giving landlords until 2035 to implement our new decent homes standard, but we have made it clear that they should not wait until then to impr…”

“As part of the proposals we set out in a build out working paper last year, we are looking at some of the powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 that allow local planning authorities to refuse planning permissions to developers who consistently do not build out. On the issue of highways, I will happily re…”

“We have provided significant support for local planning authorities to help them with capacity and capability pressures. My hon. Friend will know that through the provisions in the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, we are allowing local authorities to set their own fees at a local level to ensure that their costs c…”

“Local plans that are up to date provide protection from speculative development. Local authorities have to ensure that they are meeting housing delivery targets; that is an essential part of the system. Again, I will happily respond if the hon. Gentleman writes to me with further detail.”

“If a local planning authority has an up-to-date local plan in place, it will be up to date and in place until it needs to be replaced. At that point, we expect the targets that flow from the new standard method to be adhered to.”

“Not just because I have accepted a large number of meetings, I think a far better way for the hon. Gentleman to submit his views would be through the appropriate consultation on freehold estates, where he can bring that case and the issues it raises to life for us.”

“I am sorry to disappoint my hon. Friend, but the Government have been very clear that we do not support rent controls. The provisions of our Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will ensure that landlords can increase rent only once a year and that tenants are empowered to challenge unreasonable rent increases.”

“The Government have recognised openly that there is a perfect storm when it comes to house building in London. That is precisely why we are consulting on an emergency package. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the consultation closed just weeks ago and he does not have long to wait before we come forward with next steps…”

“From that question, it is difficult to understand precisely what the hon. Gentleman is getting at. If he writes to me, I will happily respond.”

“We issued guidance earlier this week in respect of some of the provisions that are in the Act, but I will ensure that the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness has heard my hon. Friend’s call for more support and guidance in that area, alongside the implementation of other elements of the Act. The Government a…”

“It is a pleasure, as always, to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) on securing this important debate, and thank him for his clear and comprehensive account of the challenges of poorly managed, and in particular non-commissioned, exempt accommoda…”

“Mel may want to add, but the fundamental point I would make is that we have, in some ways, done the precise opposite. The new social and affordable housing programme allows for more flexibility in grant rates per unit to ensure that we are getting the right homes in the right places, in terms of social rented housing a…”

“The new towns programme is not the only thing the Department is focusing on, and we want large-scale development to come forward outside of it. We are seeing a lot of activity, not least on the part of mayors looking to take forward mayoral development corporations outside the programme, for example. The locations that…”

“I cannot speak to the site in question, but the question I would ask about it is, why, if the local authority wanted a mix of tenures, it did not seek to achieve that through its section 106 negotiations? In general terms, we want affordable housing targets to be in place in local plans, with as much uncertainty as pos…”

“It goes back to my answer to an earlier question: we see it as the responsibility of local authorities to set out which tenures are required, so we are not setting those from a national point of view. The 1.5 million target has a very simple single metric, used by many Governments over many decades, in terms of net add…”

“Indeed, but as I have said to the Committee before, I could have picked a very unambitious target and hit it easily.”