Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate of the average portfolio value of leaseholders that own more than three properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department does not routinely collect data on bankruptcy or the reasons for them; we would welcome any specific concerns being raised directly should those with an interest in this policy area wish to do so.
It is important to note that there are multiple ways leaseholders can seek support in remediation. The Leasehold Advisory Service, funded by the department, provides free advice to leaseholders on legal matters.
Part 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022 allows any leaseholders, including those who are leaseholders in a building subject to collective enfranchisement, to apply to the First Tier Tribunal to seek a Remediation Contribution Order from a previous owner, developer or persons associated with either of these, for funds to remediate relevant defects (including non-cladding defects) in their buildings.
Leaseholders in buildings subject to collective enfranchisement can also seek to recover costs of non-cladding defects through the retrospectively extended limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act. We have also extended the reach of civil liability to associated companies of developers and a new cause of action which allows manufacturers of construction products to be pursued.
Another possible course of action would be to consider recourse to litigation under the Defective Premises Act where costs may be recovered from those responsible for historical defects on the building if construction was completed on or after 28 June 1992 and a dwelling in the building is unfit for habitation.
The Government published a call for evidence on leaseholder-owned buildings, which closed on 14 November 2022. We are carefully considering the evidence, which will help inform Government policy on how best to protect the leaseholders in leaseholder-owned buildings from the impact of building safety defects. This evidence has informed the policy thinking which resulted in the inclusion of building safety measures to further strengthen Remediation Contribution Orders in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
The department does not hold data on the average value of the portfolios of leaseholders who own more than three properties. The department issued a call for evidence on 21 March 2024 to assess the impact of the leaseholder protections where a leasehold property is owned by two or more individuals. The Call for Evidence closed on 5 April 2024.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what powers he has impose financial support for new ferry routes as a condition for companies seeking to operate Freeports.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 2213 on 20 November 2023.
Freeports are not operated by individual companies, but are a partnership of key public and private stakeholders coming together to deliver durable economic growth for their regions.
Private sector operators provide services to meet wider passenger or freight demands and so, new ferry routes are developed on a commercial basis.
More information pertaining to Scottish Green Freeports can be found as this link.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the Code of Practice required to bring the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 into force.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Further to the answer given to Question UIN 15378 on 20 February 2024, following the call for evidence, we intend to publish a consultation on the caps on parking charges and debt recovery fees this year. The government is committed to reissuing the Code as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help tackle increases in average monthly rent for private tenants.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises the cost of living pressures that tenants are facing, and that paying rent is likely to be a tenant’s biggest monthly expense. The level of private sector rents is not directly a matter for Government, however, we are taking steps to increase housebuilding to help create a more sustainable and affordable housing market over the long term. The Government is on track to meet its manifesto commitment to deliver a million homes over this Parliament.
The Government also welcomes new institutional investment in the private rented sector. The Build to Rent sector has built over 100,000 new homes over the past 13 years and they continue to play a part in increasing the supply of homes in the private rented sector.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how the criteria for the Community Ownership Fund was established; and for what reason local authorities are excluded from applying.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Criteria, eligibility requirements and changes to the Fund, have been informed by applicant feedback, stakeholder engagement, and lessons learnt. All information can be found in the updated prospectus on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans were on social housing waiting lists in 2022-23.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department does not collect this data centrally.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 61 of the National Planning Policy Framework, what discussions he has had with the Planning Inspectorate on their interpretation of the word advisory.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
When developing new planning policy the department engages with a range of stakeholders including the Planning Inspectorate.
The Government response to the consultation, published alongside the revised Framework, can be found at gov.uk. This sets out in detail the changes made to national policy following the consultation, and the reasons why those changes were made. In addition, the Government response set out that we intend to revise supporting guidance to provide further clarity on the changes to the Framework. The scope and timescales for those changes will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans received the Council Tax Reduction in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funding his Department has allocated to tackle youth homelessness in each of the last five years.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping, including youth homelessness.
Between 2018 and 2025, Government has provided £938 million through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, to support local authorities to tackle rough sleeping. We expect councils to commission services based on an assessment of the needs of their local community to make sure that all groups’ needs are considered, which will include young people. During this period, we have also committed £17.4 million to support local authorities to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping for care leavers.
Since 2021, we have invested £1.6 billion through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, giving councils the funding they need to prevent homelessness and help more people sooner, including young homeless people.
In 2022, we announced the £200 million Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) which is delivering over 2,000 homes and support services for people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough, including young people. Of these, over 650 are specifically for young people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on taking steps to help ensure that (a) election candidates’ freepost items and (b) postal vote (i) applications and (ii) ballot papers will be delivered on time.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 13601 on 22 February 2024.
I can confirm that – as set out in that answer - I met with the Chief Executive of Royal Mail last month.