Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment the Department has made of the adequacy of public toilet provision; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a public toilet commissioner to ensure (a) consistent standards and (b) accessibility for all communities.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are best placed to understand local priorities, including on the important issue of provision of public toilets whether they are operated by local councils directly or through community schemes.
As set out in the Local government finance policy statement 2025 to 2026 published on 28 November, we are taking action to address the significant challenges councils face, including through the first multi-year funding settlement for local government in 10 years and reducing the number of funding pots so that councils have more certainty and flexibility to judge local priorities, to meet the needs of local people, and to decide how best to deliver on our national priorities.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the (a) affordability and (b) availability of housing for young people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
With regard to the supply of social and affordable housing, I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.
To support first-time buyers, the Government has committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme and to giving first-time buyers the first chance to buy homes.
The Renters' Rights Bill will provide more security for tenants and empower them to challenge poor practice and unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases without fear of eviction.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department plans to provide through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to projects in Northern Ireland in the 2024-25 financial year; and if she will take steps to ensure that further allocations are used to help tackle economic inactivity.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £67.5 million for projects in Northern Ireland this financial year.
The Autumn Budget announced that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, for which the previous government made no plans beyond March 2025, will be extended for 2025-26 at a reduced level of £900 million.
With this transitional arrangement, Northern Ireland will continue to benefit from investment next year in local growth, providing certainty of funding in advance of wider local growth funding reforms. This will provide the flexibility to deliver the most important local projects for Northern Ireland, including projects helping those at risk of being left behind.
My department will update the fund prospectus and confirm the Northern Ireland funding allocation for 2025-26 as soon as possible.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a statutory requirement to include people on the housing waiting list in planning consultations for new homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government are exploring new ways to increase and enhance community engagement in the planning process, including by improving access to planning data through its digitisation drawing on provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. This will help remove barriers to participation in the planning process, including among those on housing waiting lists.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on the potential impact of the number of large housebuilders in the construction sector on (a) the role of SMEs and (b) their ability to expand in that sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Small and medium sized housebuilders are essential to meeting the government’s housing ambitions and supporting local economies. Our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework included proposals to support the SME housebuilding sector to grow by strengthening small site policy. The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.
The Government published its response to the CMA Housebuilding Study on 22 October. Officials spoke to the CMA on a range of issues during their market study.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will instruct councils to identify sites suitable for fewer than 100 dwellings, in the context of Government steps to increase house building.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Small and medium sized housebuilders are essential to meeting the government’s housing ambitions and supporting local economies. Our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework included proposals to support the SME housebuilding sector to grow by strengthening small site policy. The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.
The Government published its response to the CMA Housebuilding Study on 22 October. Officials spoke to the CMA on a range of issues during their market study.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will introduce a long- term rent settlement to allow housing associations to borrow to acquire social housing under section 106 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Written Ministerial Statement on Monday 28th October (HCWS169), the government will consult on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing. The intention would be for this to increase with Consumer Price Index inflation figures and an additional 1%. The consultation will also seek views on other potential options to give greater certainty, such as providing a 10-year settlement.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to emphasise the importance of delivery of affordable housing in her proposals for planning reform.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 8302 on 18 October 2024.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to bring forward the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill; what recent estimate she has made of when the provisions of the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill will be implemented; and what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support leaseholders with short leases to obtain mortgages.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As outlined in the King’s Speech, the Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. This includes a new valuation scheme that leaseholders must follow to calculate how much they should pay to enfranchise and includes measures such as removing the requirement to pay marriage value, capping the treatment of ground rents at 0.1% of the freehold value in the calculation, and prescribing rates for the calculation. A small number of provisions came into force on 24 July, two months after Royal Assent, relating to rentcharge arrears, building safety legal costs and the work of professional insolvency practitioners.
The Government will further reform the leasehold system by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture. We will also reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.
The Government has made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to (a) support communities across the UK in taking ownership of assets at risk of closure and (b) ensure their continued use for community benefit through the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution Bill will empower communities with a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved community assets, such as empty shops, pubs and community spaces. We will make further announcements in due course.