Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to bring forward regulations to introduce electrical safety checks, as set out in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is committed to protecting tenants and, as part of this, introduced the enabling power into the Housing and Planning Act 2016, allowing regulations to protect private sector tenants from electrical hazards in the home to be set at a later date.
This is a highly technical area and we need to explore appropriate options with relevant experts in the sector to test the most effective approach. My Department intends to set up a working group to identify what, if any, legislative requirements are needed and envisage this work being completed this year. This will ensure any introductions are beneficial and strike the right balance by protecting tenants while not over burdening the sector.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to mandate the timescale by which the Leasehold Property Enquiries form must be completed.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
At Spending Review 2015, the Government announced its plan to publish a call for evidence looking at the process of buying a selling a home. We understand that there are complexities involved and, therefore, will assess the evidence received in response to the call for evidence to determine what changes have the potential to make the greatest impact. The call for evidence will include consideration of the impact of leasehold on buying and selling homes, and will be launched in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the obstacles to improving and speeding up the home buying process.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
At Spending Review 2015, the Government announced its plan to publish a call for evidence looking at the process of buying a selling a home. We understand that there are complexities involved and, therefore, will assess the evidence received in response to the call for evidence to determine what changes have the potential to make the greatest impact. The call for evidence will include consideration of the impact of leasehold on buying and selling homes, and will be launched in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will launch a consultation on improving the home buying process, and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
At Spending Review 2015, the Government announced its plan to publish a call for evidence looking at the process of buying a selling a home. We understand that there are complexities involved and, therefore, will assess the evidence received in response to the call for evidence to determine what changes have the potential to make the greatest impact. The call for evidence will include consideration of the impact of leasehold on buying and selling homes, and will be launched in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the costs charged by a landlord to the purchaser of a leasehold property of providing (1) the notice of assignment or charge, (2) the certificate of compliance, (3) the deed of covenant, and (4) the stock transfer.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
At Budget 2016 the Government announced its plan to publish a call for evidence looking at the process of buying a home including the process of purchasing a leasehold property. The Government will assess the evidence received to determine what changes to the homebuying process can make the greatest impact including the transactional costs incurred by leaseholders.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to extend the requirements of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 and the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 to require landlords of leasehold properties to belong to a redress scheme.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is not persuaded that more burdensome approaches to regulate landlords would be effective. Leaseholders in dispute with their landlord can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England and the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales to seek redress.
The Government is extending leaseholders’ access to redress by including provisions in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 that will address an irregularity concerning the inability of courts and tribunals to restrict recovery of a landlord’s legal costs from leaseholders as administrative charges, where they consider a restriction on recovery to be just and equitable. The Government plans to introduce related secondary legislation by summer 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible closure of the Eve Refuge in Northamptonshire due to funding cuts, and what steps they are taking to provide replacement support for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse and who are supported by that refuge.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Domestic Abuse is a devastating crime that shatters lives. That is why we are committed to ensuring that no victim is turned away from the support they need. To support this ambition, we have committed long term fund of £40 million over the next four years which will offer support to victims of domestic abuse. This increased funding, which triples our funding in the last spending period, complements Government's wider approach and support for violence against women and children's services, which will be set out in the forthcoming refresh of the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
It is for local areas to fully assess their local needs for domestic abuse services and to make decisions on the provision of safe accommodation and support for victims of domestic abuse. There is a range of accommodation and support available to victims of domestic abuse. Some will be accommodated in refuges, but dispersed housing or sanctuary schemes with support may be a preferred option for others. Some victims will pursue independent solutions with the appropriate support. We would urge all areas to recognise the importance of ensuring that victims have a safe place to go in a crisis.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they propose to take following the Competition and Markets Authority market study into the residential property management service sector in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
With more than 4 million properties across England subject to a long lease, leaseholders are a vital part of a growing housing market.
This Government has already increased protections for leaseholders, with limits being placed on the amount of service charges recoverable from local authority leaseholders where the works are funded by Government grant, as well as a requirement for every property manager to belong to an approved redress scheme. We will now work closely with the Competition and Markets Authority to consider what further support the Government can offer.
Housing is a devolved issue for Wales. I understand that the Competition and Markets Authority will be pursuing the issues arising out of its market study separately with the Welsh Government.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will identify the redress schemes approved to accept complaints against letting agents, under the Redress Schemes for Letting Agency Work and Property Management Work (Approval and Designation of Schemes) (England) Order 2013; and what were their reasons for the selection of such schemes.
Answered by Baroness Stowell of Beeston
In April 2014 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government approved 3 redress schemes, these are: The Property Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services Property and The Property Redress Scheme. The schemes were selected as they have met all the conditions for approval including demonstrating that they are independent, fair, effective, transparent and accountable.