Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average and median turnaround time for social housing properties between tenancies in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by local authority.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department’s annual Social Housing Lettings in England statistical series includes data on the mean and median re-let times for social housing properties between tenancies in England and can be found in table 2fi and 2fii on gov.uk here. In line with data protection legislation, this is not broken down by local authority.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of local authority housing waiting lists; and whether they collect information on the frequency with which local authorities review their housing registers.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My department has not made an assessment of the accuracy of local authority housing registers (waiting lists) and does not collect information on how frequently local authorities review their housing registers.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department does not collect data on the number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the principal barriers preventing shared ownership leaseholders from staircasing to full ownership.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.

As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.

The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.

To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of service charges on the affordability of shared ownership homes.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.

As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.

The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.

To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of regional differences in access to shared ownership schemes.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.

As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.

The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.

To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.