Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 when the parking code of practice review will be concluded.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 54476 on 12 October 2022.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of extending the Help to Buy Practical Completion deadline of 31 January 2023 in exceptional circumstances.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We have extended the Help to Buy deadline to 17 March to make sure people do not lose out on their homes because developers have not met the building deadline.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he will make his decision on Community Ownership Fund round 3 funding.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The dates of future bidding windows will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 trends in the level of rent arrears owed to social housing providers on their ability to invest in new homes.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Regulator of Social Housing's quarterly survey for April to June 2022 (which is based on regulatory returns from private registered providers and private registered provider groups who own or manage more than 1,000 homes) reports that mean current tenant arrears stood at 3.6% at the end of June 2022. The equivalent figures for June of 2019, 2020 and 2021 were 3.5%, 4.0% and 3.5% respectively.
The quarterly survey also reports that, in the 12 months to June 2022, £12.4 billion was invested by private registered providers in the acquisition and development of housing properties. This compares to £11.6 billion in the year to June 2021, and £11.1 billion in the year to June 2020.
The Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) for 2020/21 show total arrears for current tenants at 4.5% of the total rent roll. The same figure for 2019/20 is 4.0% and for 2018/19 it is 3.7%. Meanwhile, the local authority sector delivered (including new builds and acquisitions) 6,811 homes in 2018/19, 7,910 homes in 2019/20 and 7,119 homes during the pandemic in 2020/21.
We have given councils a range of tools to support them to deliver more social housing, including greater freedom in how they can spend the money they receive from Right to Buy sales on replacement homes and the removal of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap in 2018 enabling local authorities to borrow for building.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to give leaseholders the right to manage their properties.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Many leaseholders already have a statutory right to take over management of their properties, under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. Earlier this year we consulted on proposals that would give leaseholders living in buildings with up to 50% non-residential floorspace new rights to manage their property, and we will respond in due course. Legislation will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the resources of local planning authorities to help enforce planning obligations.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to reply to the correspondence of 18 October 2022 from the hon. Member for Bristol South on grant funding for Hartcliffe City Farm, case reference ZA79311.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
A response has been issued to the Hon. Member on the 8th November 2022.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to ensure that carers who temporarily live with the person they care for and are on a low income are entitled to the Council tax rebate.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The council tax rebate was targeted at occupied properties, where energy bills are likely to be higher. There is an exemption from council tax for properties that are unoccupied because someone is living elsewhere to provide care, and these properties are not eligible for the main rebate. As part of the rebate scheme, we have however provided councils with £144 million to provide discretionary support. While it is for councils to decide how to use this funding, our guidance suggests that payments might be made to households where the energy bill payer is not liable for council tax.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2022 to Question 99347, on Community Ownership Fund, when he plans to publish an updated timetable for applications to the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We will be relaunching the Community Ownership Fund in Spring 2022.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
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 an updated timetable for applications to the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In order to fully examine, learn and implement the lessons of the first pilot bidding round of the Community Ownership Fund, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has pushed back the start date for the second round to spring 2022. This will enable us to ensure that the Community Ownership Fund is able to effectively invest in communities across the United Kingdom and that communities have more time to submit successful applications to the Fund.
We are currently working on our plans for round two and will be making an announcement in advance of the opening of the second round in the spring.