Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings of the Commonhold Council there have been since its formation; and how many scheduled meetings of the Council were cancelled.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Commonhold Council has met regularly since it was convened in 2021 and no meetings have been cancelled.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the leasehold enfranchisement process easier for residential leaseholders.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has committed to making enfranchisement cheaper for leaseholders by reforming the process of valuation they must follow to calculate the cost of extending their lease or buying their freehold. We will abolish marriage value, cap ground rents in the calculation, prescribe the rates to be used and introduce an online calculator.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) process (1) better known, and (2) easier for people to understand.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In dealing with applications, appeals and references relating to disputes over property and land and as part of the Unified Tribunal System, the Property Chamber has been specifically designed to provide a more effective, accessible and lower cost alternative to court. The procedural rules, which govern how cases are handled, require that the Tribunal deals with cases proportionately and that all parties are able to fully participate in the proceedings.
Information about the Property Chamber, including guidance on how to make an appeal or reference, is available on the GOV.UK website. All tribunal processes are kept under review, but there are no current plans to revise those of the Property Chamber.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their white paper A fairer private rented sector (CP 693), published on 16 June 2022, what progress they have made on the establishment of the Property Portal.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are conducting ongoing policy and digital development which has included user research with potential users of the portal, such as private landlords, property agents, local authorities and private renters. We will continue to conduct testing of potential solutions for the property portal to make sure the system works for different users. Announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government does agree that the Vagrancy Act is antiquated and not fit for purpose, and therefore we have committed to repealing it. We made that commitment during the passage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Our commitment to repealing it has always been dependent on introducing modern replacement legislation to ensure that police and other agencies continue to have the powers that they need to keep communities safe and protect vulnerable individuals.
I cannot give a specific date when we will bring the legislation in. We will bring forward suitable replacement legislation in a future legislative vehicle.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will allow the public access to the rogue landlords database.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities are responsible for uploading records on the existing Database and removing entries when they have expired. The Database does not distinguish between landlord and property agents' entries. There are currently 56 entries.
The Government will bring forward legislation to reform the private rented sector, this will include – as set out in the Government’s white paper – a Rented Property Portal which will make certain details relating to landlord offences viewable to tenants and prospective tenants.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many landlords are on the rogue landlords database.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities are responsible for uploading records on the existing Database and removing entries when they have expired. The Database does not distinguish between landlord and property agents' entries. There are currently 56 entries.
The Government will bring forward legislation to reform the private rented sector, this will include – as set out in the Government’s white paper – a Rented Property Portal which will make certain details relating to landlord offences viewable to tenants and prospective tenants.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure freeholders and managing agents of residential property are transparent with leaseholders on the makeup of fees and charges they levy.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Announcements of future legislation and policy will be made in the usual way.
I refer the noble Lord to the Secretary of State’s comments on leasehold reform (attached) here.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a bill to reform or abolish leasehold as a residential tenure in the next session of parliament.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Announcements of future legislation and policy will be made in the usual way.
I refer the noble Lord to the Secretary of State’s comments on leasehold reform (attached) here.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of business rates and the case for reform.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government recently undertook a full review of the business rates system. The Final Report of the Business Rates Review was published at Autumn Budget 2021. The report reaffirmed the importance of business rates as part of the UK tax system, particularly as they raise around £20 billion a year to fund vital local services. As part of this Review the Government committed to more frequent revaluations from 2023, a major reform to the system ensuring that business rates liabilities are more responsive to changing market conditions. This addresses a key ask of stakeholders for more frequent revaluations and to reduce the burden of business rates to make the system fairer.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth £13.6 billion over the next five years. The package contains new measures to reduce the burden of business rates on firms, including a freeze in the multiplier, extended relief for high street businesses, and a new Exchequer funded Transitional Relief scheme to help ratepayers adapt to their new bills.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.