Matthew Pennycook MP: speeches

74 published records · newest first.

Speeches

7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his support for the new towns programme. We will bring forward final decisions in short order, responding to the consultation that we undertook earlier this year, and those proposed seven new town sites.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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That is precisely why we have introduced strategic cross-boundary planning through spatial development strategies— [ Interruption. ] The hon. Member says that it is not working, but it is not in place yet. We passed the Planning and Infrastructure Act last year, and it will be in place in short order. I am more than happy to have a conversation about it with her.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend and other colleagues.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I recognise the strength of feeling in the House on this matter. I want to ensure that every opportunity is taken to retain homes in the social housing sector. Although housing associations remain independent organisations that are responsible for their own asset management decisions, I can assure my hon. Friend that we are exploring what further steps could be taken to protect much-needed social housing stock.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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There is a variety of practice in the country, and we want to better understand whether local authorities are making full use of existing powers, but I reassure my hon. Friend that we keep the matter under review. We have to ensure that we are regulating HMOs properly.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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It is not a blanket policy; it relates to well-connected stations. I have set out the definition, with appropriate minimum densities to go with it.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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It will depend on whether the application in question meets the criteria to allow it to proceed down the Crown development route. Obviously, the applicant is separate from our Department; we are the stewards of the process and will make the determination on the basis of those criteria.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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There is no lack of ambition when it comes social and affordable housing from this Government. At least 60% of that historic £39 billion will go to social rented homes. We have delivered the highest number of council homes since records began in 1991-92. We are taking a pragmatic approach. There are social homes ready to be built by housing associations, but we will ensure that more of the funding goes to councils for direct delivery.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Places for People will no doubt have heard the concerns the hon. Gentleman has raised today. Social housing providers are regulated on the basis of consumer standards, and they are inspected on that basis. We have introduced Awaab’s law, which provides that landlords have to fix hazards within specified time limits. If he wants to write to me with further information about the development in question, I will be happy to look into it.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend. I think that the matters in question will fall to another Minister, thankfully, but I am more than happy to join that meeting if housing issues are involved.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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We take the hon. Gentleman’s planning policies about as seriously as the country took his conference.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The Government remain fully committed to delivering nationally significant growth in Greater Cambridge. As my hon. Friend is well aware, we have established a centrally led urban development corporation to take it forward in partnership with local leaders.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Is the right hon. Gentleman saying that he does not agree with minimum energy efficiency standards? Is he saying that he does not agree with a modernised decent homes standard? These measures are driving up the quality and the safety of homes, and we can do that while increasing supply.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The shadow Minister, for whom I have a lot of time, knows full well that development can stall at particular sites for a variety of reasons, not least the viability pressures that we discussed earlier. We are taking action to get sites moving, and the NPPF strengthens expectations in this area. On the specific matter that he raises, primary legislation is not needed. Primary legislation was taken through by the previous Government, and we have a plan to switch on the necessary secondary legislation to ensure that we have transparency over build-out rates. He does not have long to wait for that to come forward.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I will happily meet the right hon. Gentleman.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Homeowners should not be expected to shoulder the financial consequences of defective work. However, the case of Goodrich Mews is a challenging one, in that the legal liability appears to now lie with the resident management company. My hon. Friend knows that I have been looking into the matter for her, and I am more than happy to meet her again. I believe that my office has been seeking further information from hers, which we would be grateful to receive.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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As I have said, there are strong protections in the national planning policy framework. It is for local authorities to decide whether exceptional circumstances exist for the release of green-belt land, and whether very special circumstances exist that would outweigh the harms involved when it comes to inappropriate development. Those safeguards remain. We are committed to preserving England’s green belts, which have served our towns and cities very well over many decades.
7 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I think the hon. Lady is referring to unauthorised development. We have strengthened national planning policy in respect of intentional unauthorised development, making it harder to grant permission after the fact where there is evidence that development was carried out intentionally without permission. However, it has become evident—we have had a meeting on this subject—that we are seeing the prevalence of a more structured pattern of unauthorised development, and we are working across Government to see what more action might be taken to bear down on that.
7 Sept 2026 · Housing Revenue Account: Council Houses · Hansard source
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We recognise that many councils are facing significant financial pressure on their HRAs. The Government have already taken a number of steps to rebuild the capacity of councils to borrow and invest in new and existing homes, including fundamental reform of the right to buy scheme, a 10-year social housing rent settlement and social rent convergence. We will continue to explore further ways in which we might support councils to expand their stock of social homes, including low-cost borrowing options.
7 Sept 2026 · Housing Revenue Account: Council Houses · Hansard source
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We have made changes to help more councils access an HRA, raising the threshold from 200 homes to 1,000 homes to provide support in that area. Over time, we want to see a deeper partnership and more working between councils and local authorities, but we are giving consideration to what more we can do to ensure there is sufficient public control of private registered providers in an area to meet housing need. We may discuss this issue further on Second Reading of the Social Housing Bill on Thursday.
7 Sept 2026 · Housing Revenue Account: Council Houses · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of building more homes in London—I am acutely aware of the housing delivery challenges that the capital is facing. It is really important that a big proportion of those homes are social rented homes and council-delivered social rented homes. I am really pleased that in the early years of the social and affordable homes programme, 30% of the funding will go to London. That will allow London to deliver at least £6 billion of initial allocations, over half of which will be for council housing. However, there is more we need to do in this area, and I am more than happy to have a discussion with my hon. Friend outside the Chamber about what that is.
7 Sept 2026 · Housing Revenue Account: Council Houses · Hansard source
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As I made clear, we have already acted to build capacity in the sector, and will continue to explore further ways in which we might increase the headroom available to councils and housing associations, not least through low-cost borrowing options. With regard to the HRA, we remain of the view that the principle of self-financing is the right foundation, but as I said, we are fully aware of the impact of HRA debt on many councils’ ability to build more and will continue to explore ways in which we might further support them.
7 Sept 2026 · Housing Revenue Account: Council Houses · Hansard source
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As the hon. Gentleman is hopefully aware, we have already taken action to reduce maximum right-to-buy cash discounts. Through the Social Housing Bill—as I mentioned, it has its Second Reading on Thursday—we are taking further action to increase eligibility and banning the right to buy on new build social homes for 35 years. I hope he can get behind that Bill on Thursday and support it.
7 Sept 2026 · New Housing: Infrastructure · Hansard source
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As I just said to a previous question, we are looking at what more we can do to give local authorities the powers they need to bring empty homes back into use. My hon. Friend will understand that I cannot comment on specific applications being made, but councils can, through section 106 agreements, seek to negotiate with developers to bring forward the necessary infrastructure and amenities, and affordable housing, on particular sites.
7 Sept 2026 · New Housing: Infrastructure · Hansard source
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The shadow Minister raises a justified point, in that in some cases securing the necessary public service infrastructure is about ensuring that the buildings are brought forward through the relevant developer contributions and other infrastructure funding streams. In some cases, there are other issues, such as workforce challenges in particular. We regularly speak to colleagues in other Departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care, to ensure that we get that infrastructure up front and alongside development.

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