Written questions by Holmes.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance has been given on whether a second home which is long-term unoccupied, but furnished, is liable for the empty homes council tax premium or the second homes council tax premium, where a local authority has introduced both such premiums.

The government has published guidance on when council tax premiums may apply and when a property is considered a second home or a long-term empty home. This is available here. A second home is defined, for council tax purposes, as dwelling which is substantially furnished but no one’s sole or main residence.

Communities and Local Government, What plans he has to (a) publish the election pilots prospectus on gov.uk and (b) make it available to Hon Members.

Officials shared a prospectus detailing proposed flexible voting pilots with relevant local authorities in August 2025 and are currently engaging with local authorities wishing to pilot at the May 2026 elections. The government will share further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding was allocated to the Affordable Housing Programmes in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25, including funding provided to his Department, Homes England, the Greater London Authority, local councils, housing associations and combined authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 95055 on 5 December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether his department holds information on the number of local authorities which offer rural rate relief and in which locations.

Rural rate relief is a mandatory business rates relief so can be offered to eligible businesses by all authorities in England. In 2024-25, 159 local authorities reported that they gave some rural rate relief. The data on the amount of rural rate relief given by these authorities can be found in ‘DatasheetPart3’ tab here.

Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the estimated level of council tax receipts in England from 2026-27 onwards, including police, combined authority, GLA and parish precepts.

The Department does not publish specific data on estimated levels of council tax receipts in England for Police, combined authorities, Greater London Authority and parish councils. As part of the provisional settlement the Government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending power for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of the council tax requirements councils will set for those years. These estimates are set out here. These estimates exclude parish precepts, police and crime commissioner precepts, and the High Value Council Tax Surcharge being introduced from 2028.

Communities and Local Government, If he will place in the Library a copy of the equality impact assessment produced in relation to the revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 16 December 2025.

The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. Duty assessments alongside such consultations. We are seeking views through the consultation on how the proposed policies could affect protected characteristics, and the views we receive will inform our final assessment and the government’s response to the consultation.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Authority Housing Fund: Round 4 prospectus and guidance, of 19 November 2025, for what reason the funding can be used for the flipping of forthcoming shared ownership completions into social rented housing; and what the estimated grant per unit is.

Local authorities delivering the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF R4) can shape its delivery according to local circumstances. Converting unsold shared ownership completions into social rented housing is included in a list of possible delivery routes and may be appropriate where there is insufficient demand for shared ownership homes and greater need for social rented housing. There is not a fixed grant intervention rate for converting use from shared ownership homes. The amount of funding which can be applied depends on how the shared ownership scheme was originally funded.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of uprating the monetary thresholds for (a) small business rate relief and (b) rural rate relief Rateable Value in the 2026 revaluation cycle in line with the change in aggregate Rateable Values since the 2023 Rating List.

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set RV. Eligible property under £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of properties in England pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000. Rural Rate Relief aims to ensure that key amenities are available, and community assets protected in rural areas. It provides 100% rate relief for properties that are based in eligible rural areas with populations below 3,000.At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement of 16 December 2025, HCWS1186, on Electoral Resilience, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of political donations to APPGs by foreign donors on democracy.

The registration of APPGs, as well as their compliance with the 'Guide to the Rules on All-Party Parliamentary Groups', is a matter for Parliament. The Government believes it is right that there are strict rules for APPGs regarding benefits from foreign governments and supports the prohibition on foreign governments providing or funding APPG secretariats. Ultimately, MPs must conduct the appropriate due diligence and are responsible for following not only the rules for APPGs, but the House of Commons Code of Conduct as well, which is clear on the requirements for MPs with regards to lobbying and foreign governments. In October, the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) launched specific guidance to help Members of Parliament, councillors, mayors, and their staff better understand and protect themselves from threats like espionage and foreign interference. This guidance provides simple, effective steps to safeguard individuals, their teams, and the integrity of democratic processes. The Government takes any attempts to intervene in democratic processes very seriously. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes, including from foreign interference. On the 16th of December, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics to provide an in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards that regulate political parties and political finance and make recommendations. The terms of reference for the review can be found here. Given the review’s independence, we cannot pre-empt specifics of the ground it will cover, nor the recommendations it will make. It is right that the review is independent of Government and independent of any political party.

Whether the numeric value of the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure and (b) high value multipliers will be (i) uprated by inflation each year within the 2026 revaluation cycle based on the previous values for both those respective multipliers, (ii) remain fixed value (A) 5p discounts and (B) 2.8p additions to the standard multipliers and (iii) fixed value, but the 5p and 2.8p respectively will be uprated as well.

The national multipliers uprate by the previous September’s CPI figure every April before resetting at a revaluation, which occurs every three years. This is the standard approach, as multipliers are uprated yearly with CPI. The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) multipliers will remain 5 pence below their national equivalents every year. The high-value multiplier will remain 2.8 pence above the national standard multiplier every year. However, the rates will remain under review, and the legislation does not preclude the Government from changing the rates for future tax years. This is set out in the Explanatory Memoranda of the relevant legislation: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/4/memorandum/contents

With reference to the Valuation Office Agency's statistics entitled Non-domestic rating: change in rateable value of rating lists, England and Wales, 2026 Revaluation, published on 26 November 2025, for what reason the average Rateable Values of Royal Palaces have increased by 201%.

Royal Palaces are valued in the same way as any other class of non-domestic property; through applying the statutory and common law principles that apply across non-domestic rating. An increase in RV does not mean that business rates liability will increase by the same percentage.

How does the Valuation Office estimate the value of a garden when valuing a dwelling for council tax in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Gardens are not valued separately or in isolation for Council Tax. They are reflected within a property’s overall Council Tax assessment.

What is her Department's estimate for annual CPI inflation in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (d) 2028-29 financial years.

HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasting the economy is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 November 2025.In their most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR forecast CPI inflation to be 3.5% in 2025-26, 2.2% in 2026-27, 2.0% in 2027-28 and 2.1% in 2028-29.

What was the average mean Rateable Value of a hereditament on the (a) 2023 Rating List and (b) 2026 Rating List, with the Valuation Office Agency's special category code of (i) 227 Public Houses/Pub Restaurants (Inc. Lodge) (National Scheme), (ii) 226 Public House/Pub Restaurants (National Scheme), (iii) 234 Restaurants, (iv) 238 Roadside Restaurants (National Scheme), (v) 409 Cafes, (vi) 500 Cafes/Restaurants Within/Part of Specialist Property, (vii) 060 Clubhouses, (viii) 061 Licensed Sports, Social and Private Members Clubs, (ix) 062 Coaching Inns and (x) 303 Bars (Valued on Floor Space).

Relevant data can be found here: Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the second homes council tax premium on house prices.

The use of council tax premiums is at local authorities’ discretion. The Government does not make housing market assessments based on premiums.

Communities and Local Government, if he will re-introduce the guidance entitled Four-day working week arrangements in local authorities, withdrawn on 8 November 2024.

The Secretary of State wrote to all Council Leaders and Chief Executives in England on 19 December 2025, setting out the Government’s policy that local authorities should not be offering full time pay for part time work. This policy is reflected in the Best Value Guidance issued in May 2024.

With reference to page 52 of her Department's publication entitled HMT Budget 2025: Policy Costings, published in November 2025, what is the estimated uplift in the non-payment rate of council tax.

The High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) is a new tax and is separate to Council Tax. HVCTS costings do not assume any increase in the non-payment of Council Tax. The assumptions used to estimate the revenue raised by the HVCTS are set out in the costing note published at Budget 2025.

With reference to page 30 of her Department's publication entitled HMT Budget 2025: Policy Costings, published in November 2025, what is the notional increase in revenue from the abolition of the 2025-26 centrally funded RHL relief in 2026-27.

The Government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million 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 COVID. 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. The total change in business rates revenue is set out in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate has the Land Registry made of the potential impact of the number of years of the lease length and the capital value of a leasehold (a) flat and (b) house.

It is not within HM Land Registry's remit to conduct estimates of potential impacts of the number of years of the lease length and the capital value for flats or houses.

Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to issue updated land use in England statistics.

My Department is working to update the land use statistics’ methodology to take advantage of new, more granular data from Ordnance Survey. Publication is expected to resume this year.