Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
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 respond to the correspondence of 23 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, reference JD29336.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. The Department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Honourable Members. A response was issued to the Hon. Member on 30 January 2023.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to encourage companies with responsibility for issuing Parking Charge Notices to offer discounts for early payment.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
It is standard practice to offer a discount for early payment of a parking charge notice in both local authority and private car parks. We expect the new Private Parking Code of Practice to require private parking operators to offer a discount where payment is made within 14 days of the receipt of notice.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on the application of early payment discounts on Parking Charge Notices after unsuccessful appeals.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
It is standard practice to offer a discount for early payment of a parking charge notice in both local authority and private car parks. We expect the new Private Parking Code of Practice to require private parking operators to offer a discount where payment is made within 14 days of the receipt of notice.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of warm spaces available in (a) Lewisham East constituency, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham and (c) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 86602 on 18 November 2022.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of warm spaces made available in (a) Lewisham East constituency and (b) the UK since 1 September 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department does not hold the information requested. The Local Government Financial Settlement for 2022/ 2023 makes available an extra £3.7 billion of taxpayer subsidy to councils in England, the majority of which is un-ringfenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to make decisions on funding for local priorities.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
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 Airbnb on the availability of homes for long-term renting.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We recognise the benefits that short-term holiday lets such as Airbnb, can bring to local economies, as well as some of the challenges that this can sometimes pose to communities. Whilst we have not made an assessment of the impact of Airbnb on the availability of homes for long-term renting, we keep this under review.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timescale is for the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill; what the Government's plans are for section 21 notices; and what plans he has to increase security for older private renters in that upcoming bill.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As announced in the Queen’s Speech, the Government plans to introduce a package of reforms to deliver a better deal for renters and a fairer and more effective rental market. The Renters’ Reform Bill will enhance renters’ security and improve protections for short-term tenants by abolishing ‘no-fault’ evictions. This will include repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and represents a generational change in the law that governs private renting.
However, at the current time, our collective efforts are focused on protecting people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. That means supporting our communities as well as making sure measures to help renters and landlords over the next few months are effective.
Our recent consultation ‘ A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants’ sought views from across the private and social rented sectors on how a new system should operate, in order to ensure that we get the details right?and?create?a new framework which works for everyone. We received responses to our consultation which highlighted the experience of a range of people who rent their homes in the private rented sector, including older people. In total, almost 20,000 responses to the consultation were received and these are being carefully considered to help inform the Renters’ Reform Bill. We will respond fully to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals on leasehold reform.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The government is committed to reforming the leasehold market so that it is fairer for consumers. This includes banning new leasehold houses, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and reducing ground rents for both houses and flats to zero
We will also give freeholders on private and mixed-tenure estates the right to challenge the reasonableness of these charges and the ability to apply to the First tier Tribunal to appoint a new property manager
We will bring forward the legislation to implement these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend automatic priority need for housing to survivors of domestic abuse.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Legislation provides that a person who is pregnant, has dependent children, or is vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation due to domestic abuse already has priority need for accommodation.
The Homelessness Reduction Act which came into force last April goes further, representing the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, requiring local authorities to carry out assessments of the housing and support needs of people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and take reasonable steps to try and prevent or relieve their homelessness. Local authorities must ensure they tailor the advice to meet the needs of particularly vulnerable groups including those who are victims of domestic abuse.
The government is committed to ensuring that the Homelessness Reduction Act is working for all including ensuring that those fleeing domestic abuse get the support they need. These duties apply irrespective of priority need or intentional homelessness, and the steps the local authority and the applicant are to take must be set out in a personalised housing plan.
Through the Act, the government is ensuring that the new prevention and relief duties are providing help to all eligible people, including single people who do not have priority need. Although our data is still experimental the indications are this is happening. During the first year for which we have published data 263,720 households have had a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness accepted, and only 9,440 households have been issued with a 'non priority homeless' decision.
In addition the government has invested £55.5 million in accommodation-based services to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges since 2014. We are also continuing to provide funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative to ensure that provision is in place for women who sleep rough.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
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 houses in multiple occupancy meet the standards prescribed under the Housing Act 2004.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government has given local authorities strong powers to drive up standards in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). These include mandatory, additional and selective licensing as well as civil penalties of up to £30,000, rent repayment orders and banning orders for those landlords who refuse to comply with the law.
We have also recently extended mandatory licensing of HMOs. Mandatory licensing is recognised to have improved safety and property standards in HMOs, the extension will bring an additional 170,000 properties within scope of mandatory licensing.
In addition, the Government is currently refreshing guidance for local authorities in order to help them better use these powers. Along with providing training sessions across the county, the updated guidance will ensure local authorities are aware of the extent of powers they have and how they can use them to maximum effect in all private rented sector properties, including HMOs.