Rachel Gilmour MP: written questions
4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025
How these years work
Our reporting years run from 4 July to 3 July, starting with the 2024 general election. They are not official parliamentary sessions. Office costs keep IPSA’s April–March financial years. Records may cover only part of a year; a missing record does not mean no work was done.
Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
16 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Affordable HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54208More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to legally redefine the term affordable housing to be linked to social rent.
Answer: To reflect this government’s priorities, the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 places greater emphasis on the delivery of Social Rent homes and includes a separate definition of Social Rent so that it is not referred...
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTemporary Accommodation: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51683More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation for local authorities through the Spending Review.
Answer: At phase 1 of the Spending Review the Government announced a £233 million increase for homelessness services, taking total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. This includes the largest-ever investment in prevention services, enabling councils to interv...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51682More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help increase social housing supply through the Spending Review.
Answer: The government will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on deliverin...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Planning PermissionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 48763More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of restricting permitted development rights for (a) caravans and (b) temporary installations on agricultural land to cases
Answer: The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.
Answered 7 May 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Parks: Planning PermissionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 27 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42133More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of planning applications without clear necessity on the boundaries of national parks on those areas.
Answer: The government has made no such assessment. Impacts of development on National Parks are assessed by local planning authorities.National Park authorities are the local planning authority within the National Park and are a statutory consultee for planning ...
Answered 4 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordProperty Development: WaterMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) ingress and (b) egress routes for water in new building developments.
Answer: This government recognises the importance of development being resilient to flooding from all sources, including from surface water. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes sh...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordRented Housing: MouldMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to address the failures in remedial work to combat mould in rented properties, in the context of the associated health risks.
Answer: The government is committed to ensuring that rented homes are safe, decent, warm, and free from damp and mould.The Deputy Prime Minister made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February (HCWS423) confirming that the government will bring Awaab’s Law int...
Answered 26 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordHomelessnessMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23645More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) support for homeless people and (b) the criteria by which those at risk of homelessness are deemed vulnerable.
Answer: Homelessness levels are far too high and this Government is taking action to deliver long term solutions. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25), bringing total...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning: Devon and SomersetMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 9 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23075More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the resources available to local government for planning enforcement in (a) Devon and (b) Somerset.
Answer: In the answer to Question UIN 16501 on 5 December 2024 I set out the government’s investment to support capacity and capability in local authorities. This will be further underpinned by increases in planning fees that will help improve the resourcing of p...
Answered 29 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSupported Housing: Advisory ServicesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17693More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to expedite the establishment of the Supported Housing Advisory Panel.
Answer: The Government remains committed to implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, including appointing members to a Supported Housing Advisory Panel.The recruitment of Panel members has resumed and applications closed...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: WatchetMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the occupancy rate for houses in Watchet in Tiverton and Minehead constituency.
Answer: Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum p...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing Associations: Tenancy TransfersMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17406More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of regulation on the duty of care transfer of vulnerable tenants from housing associations to village agents.
Answer: Registered providers of social housing must ensure that the safety of tenants is considered in the design and delivery of landlord services and take reasonable steps to mitigate any identified risks to tenants. In addition, registered providers must take ...
Answered 16 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented Housing: Heat PumpsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17405More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of mechanical failure of Magna Air Source heat pumps in social housing on tenants.
Answer: Heat Pumps are often a highly effective low carbon alternative to a traditional gas boiler and can save families around £100 a year compared to a gas boiler through the effective use of a smart tariff. However, as with any repair, social housing providers...
Answered 16 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSecond Homes: Council TaxMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13976More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the council tax levy for second homes on the chalet industry; and whether chalets will qualify as second homes
Answer: From April 2025 councils will have the power to charge a discretionary premium of up to 100% on dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially furnished. The Government recognises there may be circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a premium ...
Answered 20 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordService ChargesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13711More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislation to (a) standardise service charge (i) item descriptions and (ii) terminology used and (b) include references to (A) Schedule of Rates codes
Answer: The Government recognises that Non-Disclosure Agreements are sometimes used for out of court settlements between leaseholders and their managing agent or landlord. It considers that in the vast majority of cases these should be unnecessary and only be use...
Answered 19 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordLeasehold: Service ChargesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13710More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will bring forward legislation to prohibit the imposition of non-disclosure agreements on people who (a) successfully challenge (i) landlords and (ii) managing
Answer: The Government recognises that Non-Disclosure Agreements are sometimes used for out of court settlements between leaseholders and their managing agent or landlord. It considers that in the vast majority of cases these should be unnecessary and only be use...
Answered 19 Nov 2024
Original Parliament record
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Written questions by answering department
4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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