Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with industry stakeholders on the Government's proposed reforms to the leasehold system.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.
On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.
On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will hold a consultation with leaseholders and industry before bringing forward legislative proposals for reforms to the leasehold system.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.
On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.
On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 made an assessment of the required testing site capacity to carry out fire door tests for the new EN1634-1 classification within the proposed 12-month transition period as detailed in the consultation entitled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings consultation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed 12-month transition period from the national fire door testing standard BS476 to the proposed new standard EN1634-1 on the (a) costs and (b) productivity of the timber fire door manufacturing sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has held discussions with the timber fire door manufacturing sector on his Department's consultation entitled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the feasibility of (a) expanding the Unique Property Reference Number system to make it available for the wider property market and (b) encouraging the use of the Unique Property Reference Number system by the wider property market.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has already mandated the use of Unique Property Reference Numbers for gathering and storing address data in government systems which is available for the wider property market to use and benefit from.
We continue to explore a number of digital solutions to create an accessible 21st century residential property market and are developing a detailed plan to take this work forward which will focus on property data.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the cumulative cost for leaseholders of the new building safety regime since the Building Safety Act received Royal Assent.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department published an impact assessment in July 2021 that accompanied the introduction of the Building Safety Bill to Parliament. This estimated the ongoing costs of the new building safety regime (excluding the costs of Part 5, protections for leaseholders), which could then be passed on to leaseholders.
We intend to publish a revised estimate of the cost to leaseholders in the Impact Assessment that will accompany proposed secondary legislation relating to Part 4 of the Building Safety Act.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the developer contract for the remediation of high risk buildings will ensure that buildings meet the same standards of (a) structural safety and (b) fire safety as those that will be required by the new Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The developer contract is being finalised and will be published shortly. We expect developers to remediate or mitigate life-critical fire-safety defects. We expect developers to assess their buildings using the relevant standards, including the standard methodology for external wall construction and cladding set out in in PAS9980:2022 and we expect developers to obtain sign-off that the works meet the relevant standards and comply with Building Regulations.
The Building Safety Regulator will perform its statutory functions independently of the contract. The Regulator takes a risk-based approach to higher-risk buildings and will have regard to relevant industry standards.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department intends to bring forward policies focused on hyper-local community regeneration.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Levelling Up White Paper sets out the policy programme committed to empowering and investing in communities. The Pride in Place mission intends that, by 2030, people's satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community will have risen in every area of the UK.
Government support already includes a £150 million UK-wide Community Ownership Fund. This gives communities the opportunity to take local institutions into their own hands, working with investors and the private sector to match funding.
On town centres, the High Streets Task Force continues to help communities regenerate their high streets to reflect evolving local needs. It supports local authorities with access to expert support in areas such as placemaking, planning and design.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lowering the minimum square footage threshold for retail impact assessments on out-of-town development.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has made clear that in the first instance, main town centre uses such as retail, should be located in town centres. When assessing planning applications for town centre uses in out of town locations that have not been identified in a local plan, a sequential test should be applied to help ensure development that would have an unacceptable impact on existing centres is not permitted. The National Development Management Policies are intended to cover generic planning considerations that apply regularly in decision-making, of the sort already found in national planning policy, such as the town centre first principles.
The Class E Commercial, Business and Service use class includes a mix of uses such as retail and leisure uses that attract people to local areas. To help support existing businesses to adapt and diversify more quickly to meet changing circumstances, businesses in the same use class are able to change use of their premises to other uses within the use class without the need for a planning application.