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Written Question
Homelessness: Young People
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

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 plans to take to end youth homelessness.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 199217 on 20 September 2023.

The Government also recently announced the expansion of the DWP's Youth Offer to over 30,000 economically inactive young people. The DWP Youth Offer provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are on Universal Credit in order to move them closer to the labour market.


Written Question
Planning Permission: Events Industry
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of planning regulations that allow temporary events that alter the streetscape in (a) town squares and (b) other spaces on levels of disorientation for the visually impaired.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

In relation to the pavement licence regime, we have worked closely with groups, including the RNIB and Guide Dogs, in preparing guidance which sets out considerations that local authorities should take into account when determining applications. This includes specific considerations for the impact that licences will have on disabled people, including the visually impaired.

There are existing national permitted development rights which enable the temporary use of land for a range of purposes, such as markets and temporary events, and which allow the provision of associated moveable structures on the land. We expect local authorities to act proportionately and in accordance with their own equality duties when undertaking development in their authority area.


Written Question
Urban Areas
Tuesday 14th February 2023

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to revitalise high streets.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

This Government is committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful. The Government has provided a comprehensive package of around £400 billion of direct support, including business grants, coronavirus loan schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and income tax payment deferral. This is alongside our steps to introduce an arbitration scheme to help resolve pandemic related rent debt through the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022. Our package builds on long-term investment in our high streets and small businesses including through the £3.6bn Towns Fund, the Future High Streets Fund, and the 4.8bn Levelling Up Fund. In addition to this, the High Streets Task Force is continuing to provide essential support in placemaking and planning, and so far has supported 115 local leaders.

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is going further and builds on long-term investment in our high streets and small businesses. For example, this includes High Street Rental Auctions, a new permissive power for local authorities to require landlords to rent out vacant commercial properties to prospective tenants, such as local businesses or community groups.


Written Question
Landlords: Government Assistance
Thursday 22nd December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to provide additional support to landlords following the ban on Section 21 evictions.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government recognises the vital role that good landlords play in providing homes for millions of people across the country. The white paper, 'A fairer private rented sector', sets out the government's plans to deliver a fairer deal for renters by abolishing section 21, while supporting the majority of good landlords operating in the sector. This includes introducing comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds to ensure landlords have confidence they can regain possession when it is reasonable.

When court action is needed for landlords to gain possession of their property, the courts should provide fair and efficient access to justice. We are working with the Ministry of Justice, the Judiciary and HM Courts and Tribunal Service to introduce improvements to make the possession process much more efficient for landlords.


Written Question
Holiday Accommodation and Second Homes: Urban Areas
Wednesday 14th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to place a limit on the number of (a) holiday lets and (b) second homes in small cities.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Further to the answer given in response to Question UIN 93582 on 28 November, we have committed through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to introduce a register of short term let properties. This will support the government's drive to improve holiday accommodation standards and provide local authorities with information on which properties are being used as a short term let. In addition, we have committed to consult on the introduction of a planning use class for short term lets. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, this would help local authorities better control the proliferation of such uses. We continue to keep the planning status of second homes under review.


Written Question
Housing
Wednesday 14th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

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 role of densification in helping to increase supply of housing.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Further to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 6 December, the Department agrees that densification of our towns and cities can play an important part in meeting our housing needs in a way which makes effective use of previously developed land and the availability of infrastructure and services.


Written Question
Community Relations: Rural Areas
Monday 12th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

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 increase community cohesion in rural communities.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

This Government is committed to a vision of British society where people - whatever their background - live, work, learn and socialise together, based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities. Everyone in society has a role to play in ensuring that we live in a country where anyone can achieve anything, no matter where they live or come from.

Through its Levelling Up agenda the Government will help to bolster community empowerment and support local community spaces and relationships.

For example, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) provides £2.6 billion of new taxpayer subsidy for local investment by March 2025, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation from the Fund. One of the Fund's investment priorities is 'communities and place' which aims to strengthen the social fabric of communities.

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) is a rural top up to the UKSPF, providing allocations for eligible local authorities in England to help address the additional needs and challenges facing rural areas. The REPF funds capital projects for small businesses and community infrastructure. This will help to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.


Written Question
Housing: Graduates and Young People
Friday 9th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans the Government has to make housing more (a) obtainable and (b) affordable for (i) graduates and (ii) young professionals.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

This Government is committed to providing the genuinely affordable homes the country needs. That is why, through our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, we will deliver tens of thousands of homes for both rent and sale.

We do not specifically allocate new supply for young people. However, increasing the supply of affordable home ownership and rental properties tends to benefit those in lower age brackets, making housing more accessible for those entering the market for the first time.



Written Question
Housing Associations: Standards
Friday 9th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will set up an independent review of the living standards maintained by housing associations.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

This Government is clear that all social landlords have a legal obligation to ensure their homes are decent and fit to live in under the Decent Homes Standard which we have committed to reviewing. We will also introduce a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament and we will legislate to introduce a legally binding Decent Homes Standard for the first time. We have consulted on this proposal and are currently reviewing the responses. This is a key plank of our ambitious mission to halve the number of non-decent homes across all rented tenures by 2030, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

Our Social Housing Regulation Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.

The Secretary of State recently wrote to all local authority Chief Executives and council leaders, and all providers of social housing, on ensuring quality in social housing. The letters are available here.


Written Question
Housing: Standards
Friday 9th December 2022

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans the Government has to ensure housing providers provide accommodation in a habitable state.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

This Government is clear that all social landlords have a legal obligation to ensure their homes are decent and fit to live in under the Decent Homes Standard which we have committed to reviewing. We will also introduce a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament and we will legislate to introduce a legally binding Decent Homes Standard for the first time. We have consulted on this proposal and are currently reviewing the responses. This is a key plank of our ambitious mission to halve the number of non-decent homes across all rented tenures by 2030, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

Our Social Housing Regulation Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.

The Secretary of State recently wrote to all local authority Chief Executives and council leaders, and all providers of social housing, on ensuring quality in social housing. The letters are available here.