Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the number of unoccupied dwellings in (a) Derbyshire and (b) High Peak constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department publishes data on vacant dwellings in live table 615 which can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants. This data is collated from Council Taxbase data collected from local authorities.
Data for Derbyshire can be aggregated from the district level data. Data are not available at a constituency level.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Help to Buy homeowners are waiting for a decision on a loan redemption application in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Information on Help to Buy redemptions initiated but not completed is not held by constituency. Data is publicly available in the Homes England annual report on the total redemptions for each year and a breakdown of how many loans were taken out in each parliamentary constituency is available on gov.uk.
Help to Buy: Equity loan data to 31 May 2023 (England) by parliamentary constituency
Help to Buy (equity loan scheme):datato31 May 2023
Homes England Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023/24
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support her Department provided to rough sleepers in High Peak constituency in winter 2023-24; and what steps her Department plans to take to support such rough sleepers in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
High Peak Borough Council have received Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 (RSI) funding to support rough sleepers, including during the winter months. High Peak Borough Council is part of a joint RSI bid led by Chesterfield Borough Council. The local authorities within the bid received £769,222 in 2023/24, and were allocated £624,328 for 2024/25.
Levels of homelessness and rough sleeping are far too high. The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us on back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the supply of adapted housing for (a) adults and (b) children with disabilities in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The provision of appropriate housing for people with disabilities, including specialist and supported housing, is crucial in helping them to live safe and independent lives.
The National Planning Policy Framework outlines that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, people with disabilities, older people, families with children, and rural communities, and to reflect this in their planning policies. In 2019, we published guidance to help local planning authorities implement this policy.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the prevalence of damp and mould in social housing in (a) High Peak constituency and (b) Derbyshire.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Housing Survey sets out levels of overcrowding, damp and mould in people’s homes and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-housing-survey. In 2022/23 the survey found that 19% of homes in the East Midlands did not meet the Decent Homes standard. Nationwide, 10% of private renters were living with damp and mould, followed by 7% of local authority renters, 4% of those in housing associations and 2% of owner occupiers. The survey found 12% of households that were overcrowded were likely to live in a home with damp problems present compared with 4% of those that were not overcrowded.
We are committed to decent, warm and safe homes of all tenures, and will say more on raising standards across the country this autumn.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the number of people living in overcrowded housing in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Housing Survey sets out levels of overcrowding, damp and mould in people’s homes and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-housing-survey. In 2022/23 the survey found that 19% of homes in the East Midlands did not meet the Decent Homes standard. Nationwide, 10% of private renters were living with damp and mould, followed by 7% of local authority renters, 4% of those in housing associations and 2% of owner occupiers. The survey found 12% of households that were overcrowded were likely to live in a home with damp problems present compared with 4% of those that were not overcrowded.
We are committed to decent, warm and safe homes of all tenures, and will say more on raising standards across the country this autumn.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the average increase in rent for private properties in High Peak constituency in the last 12 months; and what assessment she has made of the affordability of rent increases for people on average earnings in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has made clear that we intend to use the Renters’ Rights Bill to provide tenants with greater protections against unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on the average increase in rent. Private rents across the UK increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to June 2024 (provisional estimate), down from 8.7% in the 12 months to May 2024. The average monthly private rent in High Peak was £850 in June 2024. This was an increase from £780 in June 2023, a 8.9% rise.
The Government appreciates that housing costs are likely a households highest monthly expense. In 2022-23, housing costs took an average of 37% of private tenants’ income, in comparison to 32% for social renters and 18% for owner occupiers.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of houses in High Peak constituency that have an energy performance certificate rating of (a) A, (b) B, (c) C, (d) D and (e) E.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This information is publicly available on the Open Data Service.