Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of Arm’s Length Management Organisations as providers of social housing.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It is for councils to decide the most effective mechanism for supplying and maintaining council homes, within the legal framework and in consultation with their residents.
Of the 162 local authorities that hold council homes in a Housing Revenue Account (HRA), 22 have those homes managed by an Arm's-Length Management Organisation (ALMO). Council homes managed by a ALMO are subject to the same standards on decency, safety and energy efficiency as other social homes, and will be covered by the same proactive regulation of consumer standards envisaged in the Social Housing Regulation Bill. Councils with ALMOs are also subject to the HRA ringfence, which prevents tenants' rents being spent on wider council services.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many homes for (1) social rent, and (2) affordable rent, were built in England in 2013 and each year since up to the last year records are available.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government collects and publishes data on affordable housing by financial year, tenure and whether they are new build or acquisition. These data are published in Live Table 1009 which is available (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to curb the decline of the High Street in many towns and cities.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Government is introducing several measures to help places have more control over their high streets and town centres. High Street Rental Auctions, for example, aim to empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use. They will make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.
This builds on long-term investment in our high streets and small businesses, including through £2.35 billion worth of Towns Deals, £830 million Future High Streets Fund and the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund.
Over five years the Government's High Streets Task Force is providing support to local leaders by giving high streets and town centres expert advice to help adapt and thrive, with local authorities receiving access to expert support in areas such as placemaking, planning and design.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing for the creation of more community land trusts to build more social housing.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector, of which housing co-operatives and community land trusts are an important part, offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it can help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and helping sustain local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community can enable the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not necessarily be brought forward through mainstream development.
Since the most recent round of the Community Housing Fund (CHF) closed in March 2022, the Government has been considering what support it may provide to the community-led housing sector and a decision will be made in due course. In London, the Greater London Authority continues to deliver a programme to support for community-led housing using a grant of £38 million awarded to it from the CHF by this department in 2018/19.
For certain tenures of affordable housing, community-based groups - or their partner organisations - registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing for the building of more housing co-operatives.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector, of which housing co-operatives and community land trusts are an important part, offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it can help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and helping sustain local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community can enable the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not necessarily be brought forward through mainstream development.
Since the most recent round of the Community Housing Fund (CHF) closed in March 2022, the Government has been considering what support it may provide to the community-led housing sector and a decision will be made in due course. In London, the Greater London Authority continues to deliver a programme to support for community-led housing using a grant of £38 million awarded to it from the CHF by this department in 2018/19.
For certain tenures of affordable housing, community-based groups - or their partner organisations - registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent estimate they have made of the amount of brownfield land that is available for building homes at present where planning permission has been approved but no building has taken place.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to PQ 129970 on 31 January 2023.
This information is not held by the Department. However, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently going through the legislative process, contains a number of provisions which, if agreed by Parliament, will offer additional powers to encourage developers to build out more quickly. We recently consulted on changes to national planning policy which included proposals to publish data on developers of sites over a certain size in cases where they fail to build out according to their commitments. We also intend to consult on proposals to introduce a financial penalty against developers who are building out too slowly.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (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 brownfield, rather than greenfield, sites are used for house building.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to PQ 129970 on 31 January 2023.
This information is not held by the Department. However, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently going through the legislative process, contains a number of provisions which, if agreed by Parliament, will offer additional powers to encourage developers to build out more quickly. We recently consulted on changes to national planning policy which included proposals to publish data on developers of sites over a certain size in cases where they fail to build out according to their commitments. We also intend to consult on proposals to introduce a financial penalty against developers who are building out too slowly.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the proposals for a Combined Authority covering Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
An East Midlands devolution deal, covering Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, was announced in August 2022. The deal included the establishment of a new Mayoral Combined County Authority, with an inaugural mayoral election anticipated in May 2024. The area have now consulted on their proposals and each of the four constituent councils has voted to submit these proposals to the Secretary of State. Implementation of the deal including creation of the Combined County Authority is subject to passage and coming into force of the relevant provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and to the following statutory process including local consents and Parliamentary approval to secondary legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to remind educational institutions that they should offer voting registration op-in as part of their institutional enrolment in order to tackle low registration rates among young people.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to the Commons UQ response here, to the Cabinet Office published survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, and to the New Burdens funding methodology for the Elections Act 2022 available here.
Information regarding applications for Voter Authority Certificates is published online. The rejection of an application is a matter for the relevant Electoral Registration Officer.
The Association of Electoral Administrators is providing relevant training for Returning Officers.
The Office for Students encourages higher education providers to promote electoral registration. Students can register at their home address or their term-time address or both.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue new guidance on how educational institutions should uphold their requirement to cooperate with Election Registration Officers in facilitating the electoral registration of students.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to the Commons UQ response here, to the Cabinet Office published survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, and to the New Burdens funding methodology for the Elections Act 2022 available here.
Information regarding applications for Voter Authority Certificates is published online. The rejection of an application is a matter for the relevant Electoral Registration Officer.
The Association of Electoral Administrators is providing relevant training for Returning Officers.
The Office for Students encourages higher education providers to promote electoral registration. Students can register at their home address or their term-time address or both.