Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the affordability of housing in urban areas on (a) overcrowding in housing and (b) covid-19 transmission rates.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Housing supply and tackling affordability is critical to reducing overcrowding. At Spending Review 2021, the Government announced over £20 billion in multi-year capital investment, unlocking up to a million homes over its lifetime. The Government also reconfirmed the £11.5 billion for the new Affordable Homes Programme, which will deliver up to 180,000 new homes for affordable home ownership and rent, should economic conditions allow.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has continuously monitored emerging evidence to understand the effect of household overcrowding on public health. We have responded at pace since the onset of this pandemic to provide a range of guidance to support those living in overcrowded, shared or multi-generational housing. We previously published streamlined guidance for those living in shared and overcrowded housing with practical steps to reduce the risk of catching or passing on Covid-19 in the home.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to review the Everybody In scheme; and what lessons his Department have learned for future homelessness prevention from that scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Our pandemic response was widely commended, including by the Kerslake Commission and the National Audit Office (NAO), which cited our clear messaging and collaborative approach as key to galvanising local authorities to protect people sleeping rough from COVID-19.
The pandemic has demonstrated the powerful impact that we can have when government, local government, and the voluntary and community sector work together with health and housing partners.
Our work to support people off the streets and protect the most vulnerable from COVID-19 continues and we are committed to ending rough sleeping for good, not just as an emergency pandemic response.
We continue to build on the successes of Everyone In and we have been clear with councils and partners that those helped into accommodation during the pandemic should be offered the tailored support they need to move forwards.
We are committed to tackling homelessness in all its forms, and this government has committed to ending rough sleeping and to fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 impact of the removal of the uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit and the end of the furlough scheme on youth homelessness (a) in general and (b) among black Britons.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
a) The temporary £20 increase to universal credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and was part of a COVID support package worth £407 billion. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus now is on helping people back into work. Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes to help up to two million people get into and progress in work
b) We recognise that some people may continue to require extra support, which is why we have introduced a £500 million Household Support Fund to support vulnerable households across the UK with essential costs this winter. The Government has also announced a further £65 million to help vulnerable renters with rent arrears in England who may be at risk of eviction or homelessness.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking (a) in response to the recent rise in youth homelessness and (b) in preparation to support homeless people in winter 2021-22.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping is a priority for this Government. That is why we are spending more than £750 million on this issue this year alone. The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 has enabled young people to access support where they may not have previously been eligible.
Our youth homelessness advisors work with local authorities to promote better joint working across housing authorities and children's services to better identify and support young people at risk of homelessness. This year, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will be funding a number of local projects, to support local authorities to ensure they have the skills and expertise to prevent homelessness.
The £3 million Homelessness Winter Transformation Fund will support 60 projects run by faith and community groups to support rough sleepers this winter. We have also announced £65 million to help vulnerable renters with rent arrears in England who may be at risk of eviction or homelessness this winter.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 impact of returning to in-person council meetings on (a) conducting council business and (b) attendance at meetings by (i) councillors and (ii) members of the public.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Department is reviewing the responses to the consultation and will respond in due course. Any permanent change would require legislation, and would depend upon Parliamentary time being available.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the (a) results and (b) response to the Remote meetings: Call for evidence which closed on 17 June 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Department is reviewing the responses to the consultation and will respond in due course. Any permanent change would require legislation, and would depend upon Parliamentary time being available.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that new homes are (a) carbon neutral and (b) fuelled by renewable energy sources.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will make sure that new homes produce at least 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to those built to current standards. In the short term, this represents a considerable improvement in the energy efficiency standards for new homes. Homes built under the Future Homes Standard will be future proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the abilities of local authorities to renegotiate their housing revenue account debt settlement under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In 2012, the Government agreed self-financing settlements with local authorities that held housing revenue accounts. Debt levels were calculated and rebalanced across those local authorities with housing revenue accounts (HRAs), so that authorities could repay loans without jeopardising expenditure on necessary day-to-day expenditure on management, maintenance, and major repairs. There are no current plans to revisit the self-financing settlement.
Authorities are subject to the constraints of the Prudential Code, which means that no authority can borrow more than it can afford to service.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the level of debt accrued by local authorities in their housing revenue accounts during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps he is taking to support local authorities that have accrued that debt.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has continued to monitor the effect of Covid-19 and consequential pressures on local authorities and their housing revenue accounts.
In the last year, the Government has provided additional support for local authorities by extending the quarterly expenditure deadlines for returning unused Right to Buy receipts for the whole of 2020/21, introducing a lower Public Works Loan Board rate for housing revenue account borrowing, and extending the existing £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme for a year to preserve developments that might otherwise have been lost following site closures and delays.
Authorities are subject to the constraints of the Prudential Code, which means that no authority can borrow more than it can afford to service.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are adequately resourced to undertake fire safety remediation works on council homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is investing over £5 billion supporting the owners of residential buildings over 18m in height to carry out necessary fire safety remediation.
This includes £400 million for the full funding of remediation of unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on social sector residential buildings over 18m in height, including council-owned blocks. 98% of social sector buildings in the Fund have started remediation and 69% have completed.
In addition, social sector landlords including councils are eligible to apply to the £4.5 billion Building Safety Fund to support the costs of remediating non-ACM cladding that would otherwise be borne by leaseholders in their buildings, including shared owners.