Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have been sleeping rough in (a) Edmonton constituency, (b) Enfield borough and (c) Greater London in each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
MHCLG’s latest official annual Rough Sleeping Snapshot Statistics published on 31 January 2019 provide information about the estimated number of people sleeping rough across Local authorities in England on a single night in Autumn from 2010 – 2018.
MHCLG does not collect any statistics on the number of people sleeping rough for (a) Edmonton, which is an area within the London borough of Enfield.
A breakdown of the annual rough sleeping statistics for every year from 2010 to 2018 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping. Each publication includes a breakdown for Enfield and Greater London.
This Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head. That is why we have committed to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament and to enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.
The Government has already taken important steps to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in this area in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which is transforming the culture of homelessness service delivery and actively prevents homelessness, meaning people will get the help they need quicker.
The Government has already committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020. In 2020/2021 we are providing a further £422 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £54 million increase on what Government provided in 2019/20 and will go towards funding important programmes such as the newly combined Rapid Rehousing Pathway / Rough Sleeping Initiative and the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the potential effect on the viability of the leasehold sector of (a) regulating ground rents and (b) removing the financial value of ground rents; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government wants to ensures that consumers only pay for services that they receive. We will introduce legislation so that, in the future, ground rents on newly established leases of houses and flats are set at a peppercorn. Costs incurred by landlords for overseeing and appointing a managing agent, or carrying out wider services, can be recovered through the service charge or a marginally higher sales price.
Prior to introducing any final legislation in Parliament, the Government will undertake a regulatory impact assessment. As part of this evidence-based procedure, we will assess the economic, social, and environmental effects of the policy. This will include an assessment of the economic implications of setting ground rents to a peppercorn in terms of viability, affordability, and supply.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the provision of affordable homes of reducing the financial value of ground rents to zero.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government wants to ensures that consumers only pay for services that they receive. We will introduce legislation so that, in the future, ground rents on newly established leases of houses and flats are set at a peppercorn. Costs incurred by landlords for overseeing and appointing a managing agent, or carrying out wider services, can be recovered through the service charge or a marginally higher sales price.
Prior to introducing any final legislation in Parliament, the Government will undertake a regulatory impact assessment. As part of this evidence-based procedure, we will assess the economic, social, and environmental effects of the policy. This will include an assessment of the economic implications of setting ground rents to a peppercorn in terms of viability, affordability, and supply.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the level of housebuilding in each region of reducing the financial value of ground rents to zero.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government wants to ensures that consumers only pay for services that they receive. We will introduce legislation so that, in the future, ground rents on newly established leases of houses and flats are set at a peppercorn. Costs incurred by landlords for overseeing and appointing a managing agent, or carrying out wider services, can be recovered through the service charge or a marginally higher sales price.
Prior to introducing any final legislation in Parliament, the Government will undertake a regulatory impact assessment. As part of this evidence-based procedure, we will assess the economic, social, and environmental effects of the policy. This will include an assessment of the economic implications of setting ground rents to a peppercorn in terms of viability, affordability, and supply.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban (a) onerous ground rents and (b) the sale of new build leasehold houses.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
We will ban the unjustified use of leaseholds on new houses and we will bring forward legislation to do this at the earliest opportunity. Any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leasehold for new houses. We want to build more homes but not at any cost. This is an essential step to restore pride and dignity to homeowners everywhere.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the potential merits of (a) capping ground rents at a nominal sum and (b) reducing their value to zero.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
My Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy, and is currently exploring various policy options. We will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban (a) onerous ground rents and (b) the sale of new build leasehold houses.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
We will ban the unjustified use of leaseholds on new houses and we will bring forward legislation to do this at the earliest opportunity. Any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leasehold for new houses. We want to build more homes but not at any cost. This is an essential step to restore pride and dignity to homeowners everywhere.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to consult with (a) housebuilders and (b) residential property investors on the Government's proposals for reform of the leasehold system.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
In 2017, the Government published a consultation document to seek views leasehold reform. We received an exceptional response with over 6,000 replies, many from developers and investors. Since then, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy.
To help existing leaseholders the Law Commission is reviewing the law on enfranchisement with a view to making it fair, faster, and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold. They are also considering whether there needs to be a ban on transmitting unfair terms when a lease is sold on.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) new houses have been built and (b) temporary accommodations have been made available for rough sleepers in each of the last three years.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
My Department does not collect statistics on the allocation of new build properties or temporary accommodation.
At Budget, we announced £28 million of funding to pilot the Housing First approach for the country’s most entrenched rough sleepers. In addition to this, we announced £20 million of funding for schemes to enable better access to new tenancies or support to sustain existing tenancies in the private rented sector.
This funding forms part of the £1 billion that the Government has allocated until 2020 to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. But nobody should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have gone further and committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. We have announced a new Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State, which will drive forward the implementation of a cross-Government strategy to tackle this issue.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether there is a cross-departmental plan on housing, health, social security and work policies to ensure a coordinated approach to assist people who are sleeping rough.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government has committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027.
To achieve this, we have established the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce which will drive forward the implementation of a cross-Government strategy with an initial focus on rough sleeping.
The Taskforce will have a clear agenda to prevent and reduce rough sleeping and homelessness, driving action across both national and local government, other public services and the voluntary and private sectors.