Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to change the valuation process of extending a lease so that landlords can only charge a nominal amount.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
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.
Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. The length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses).
The Government has already legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders. The Act will mean that if any ground rent is demanded as part of a new residential long lease, it cannot be for more than one literal peppercorn per year.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector, which has resulted in commitments benefitting over 20,000 leaseholders. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
We have been clear about our commitment to addressing the historic imbalance in the leasehold system. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to reduce ground rent to less than a peppercorn.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
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.
Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. The length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses).
The Government has already legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders. The Act will mean that if any ground rent is demanded as part of a new residential long lease, it cannot be for more than one literal peppercorn per year.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector, which has resulted in commitments benefitting over 20,000 leaseholders. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
We have been clear about our commitment to addressing the historic imbalance in the leasehold system. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to allow leaseholders to extend their leases by 999 years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
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.
Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. The length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses).
The Government has already legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders. The Act will mean that if any ground rent is demanded as part of a new residential long lease, it cannot be for more than one literal peppercorn per year.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector, which has resulted in commitments benefitting over 20,000 leaseholders. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
We have been clear about our commitment to addressing the historic imbalance in the leasehold system. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to abolish marriage value.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
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.
Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. The length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses).
The Government has already legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders. The Act will mean that if any ground rent is demanded as part of a new residential long lease, it cannot be for more than one literal peppercorn per year.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector, which has resulted in commitments benefitting over 20,000 leaseholders. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
We have been clear about our commitment to addressing the historic imbalance in the leasehold system. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
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 potential merits of extending the length of time sponsors of Ukrainian refugees can claim accommodation payments through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Lead sponsors are eligible for monthly payments for as long as the guest remains living in their accommodation for up to 12 months. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councils.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to provide (a) guidance and (b) support to Ukrainian refugees seeking new accommodation after living with a sponsor.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We are actively exploring options to find suitable long-term accommodation for Ukrainians who stay in this country beyond their sponsorship.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on what date he expects to deliver the Government's commitment to withdraw the January 2020 consolidated advice note.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Consolidated Advice will shortly be retired. We are developing more risk-proportionate guidelines for fire risk assessors, including PAS 9980 and new statutory fire safety guidance which will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the date by which local authorities in England can hold their AGMs to 31 July 2021 so that they have the opportunity to hold those meetings in person after the proposed end of covid-19 lockdown restrictions in June 2021.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government keeps all policy under review. However, to extend the timeframe by which annual meetings are held would require primary legislation.
We have received representations from local authorities and sector representative organisations making the case for the continuation of remote meetings beyond 7 May 2021 and are carefully considering next steps in this area.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the benefits to the taxpayer, and to the electorate, of combining the dates of the proposed new mayoral elections and the local elections.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Both combining the dates for the new mayoral elections and local elections, and holding free-standing mayoral elections, can benefit the taxpayers and the electorate. Combining mayoral and local elections gives savings in electoral administration, up to 30% of the cost of each poll, is more convenient for voters and encourages turnout. Holding free-standing mayoral elections enhances mayoral accountability, encouraging value for money in a Mayor's decisions, and may also allow mayoral governance to be introduced earlier than otherwise.
Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will provide support to help local authorities achieve sufficient efficiency savings to enable them to freeze council tax in 2015-16.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
In September 2014 my Department awarded £8.6 million to 32 authorities through the Transformation Challenge Award. In November 2014, a further £89.4 million was awarded to 73 authorities to deliver large scale transformation projects. These awards are projected to help authorities make financial savings of £1 billion over the next 10 years. Also in November 2014 the Department awarded £16 million to help local authorities tackle non-benefit fraud which includes council tax fraud.
My hon. Friend will have seen the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 18 December where we committed to providing additional funding equivalent to a 1% council tax increase, to help councils freeze. This is the fifth successive year of freeze funding provided by the Government. This brings the total package to £5 billion.