Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 provided ring-fenced funding for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to Brighton and Hove City Council.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department is not responsible for the creation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 potential merits of introducing a scheme to help private tenants buy their current home similar to the Help to Buy scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to helping people into home ownership, and helping first time buyers, including those currently renting, to get on the housing ladder. We operate a range of government schemes including Help to Buy, First Homes, Shared Ownership, Lifetime ISA and mortgage guarantee scheme; and we continually keep options to support first-time buyers under consideration.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will consider introducing a mandatory grace period for (a) drivers who leave a parking bay within 10 minutes without buying a ticket and (b) drivers who are unable to buy a parking ticket within 10 minutes as result of delays and failures in the relevant ticket delivery system.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The 10-minute grace period at the end of paid for or free parking became mandatory for all Civil Enforcement Authorities in England on 6 April 2015. The grace period only applies at the end of permitted paid-for or free parking at local authority owned or operated car parks. It does not apply at the start of a period of parking, nor in circumstances where the driver was not permitted to park (i.e. outside the hours of permitted operation of on-street parking). There are no plans to mandate councils to give 10 minutes of free parking when parking begins.
Statutory guidance makes clear that if an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine is out of order (and parking has not been suspended and clearly indicated as such to motorists), motorists should not be issued with a parking charge notice unless alternative means of payment were available to the driver and clearly indicated
Some private parking operators currently offer 10-minute grace periods. However, the new Private Parking Code of Practice my department is currently reviewing will make it a requirement across the country to provide a fixed consideration period of at least 5 minutes to ensure that motorists have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the parking terms and conditions and give a minimum 10-minute grace period after their tickets expire.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the statement in Building Safety Fund Annex A - Technical: Measuring the height of your building that the measurement should be taken from the lowest ground level, how his Department defines that level in relation to (a) lower ground floors and (b) basement flats which are partly but not fully underground and the floor above is the first floor; and whether the measurement of height should start at (I) the lowest part of street level, (b) the lower ground floor, (c) floor level, (d) the first floor level or (e) another level.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The height of a building for the purpose of the Building Safety Fund, as set out in the Building Safety Fund: Annex A - Technical Information, should be measured in accordance with Diagram D6 of Approved Document B (Fire Safety) to the Building Regulations, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-approved-document-b.
This specifies that the height should be measured from the upper floor surface of the top floor to ground level on the lowest side of building. Diagram D6 clearly demonstrates that this measurement is taken externally. Therefore items such as lower ground floors and basement flats which are understood to be internal features of a building are generally not considered.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the licenses expire for (a) Deposit Protection Service, (b) MyDeposits and (c) Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The concession agreements in place with the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for the provision of Tenancy Deposit Protection schemes expire on 31 March 2026. Separate contracts are in place with each of the three providers for provision of Insurance-based and Custodial protection schemes, with the expiry of all six individual contracts currently aligned on 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 publish its White Paper on renters' reforms.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to building back fairer and having a better deal for renters. We will publish a white paper this Spring that will set out the Government's plans to introduce once-in-a-generation reforms to create a fairer private rented sector (PRS).
We want to improve the overall experience of renters and landlords as well as local authorities who play an invaluable role in enforcing the PRS.
We are currently undertaking extensive and wide-ranging engagement with tenants and landlords, key delivery partners such as local authorities as well as key stakeholders to inform the reform programme.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 potential effect of abolishing no fault evictions on frequency of rent increases intended to instigate an eviction.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to bringing in a Better Deal for Renters to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. This will enhance renters’ security and improve protections for tenants by abolishing so-called “no-fault” evictions through removing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and by ensuring the grounds for possession are fit for purpose. This represents a generational change in the law that governs private renting, so landlords will always have to provide a reason for ending a tenancy, such as breach of contract or wanting to move into the property.
This will provide tenants with more stability, protecting them from having to move at short notice, and allow them to put down roots and challenge poor standards where they exist, short notice moves, and plan for the future.
The Government is keen to avoid any unintended negative consequences related with abolishing Section 21. As part of this, we are clear that there should not be any mechanism for landlords to force a tenant to leave the property by including clauses in fixed term tenancy agreements which hike up the rent by excessive or unreasonable amounts just before the agreement is due to expire.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will bring forward plans to extend the forfeiture moratorium for commercial rents debt.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced on 16 June that the Government will introduce legislation to support the orderly resolution of rental payments accrued by commercial tenants during the pandemic. New legislation will ringfence rent debt accrued from March 2020 for tenants who have been impacted by Covid-19 business closures until restrictions are removed for their sector, and introduce a system of binding arbitration.
We expect terms to be agreed between commercial landlords and tenants affected by closures to defer or waive entirely a proportion of those rent arrears. But where agreement cannot be reached, both the landlord and tenant will need to undertake binding arbitration.
It is the Government’s expectation that landlords should share the financial burden with tenants where they are able to do so and give tenants breathing space to agree new terms, but also that tenants who can pay, should pay. This will also mean a return to normal contractual arrangements for those tenants able to pay rent debts in full and not affected by closures.
Until this legislation is in place, the existing moratorium on evictions will be extended to 25 March 2022. Statutory demands and winding up petitions will also remain restricted for a further three months to protect companies from creditor enforcement action where their debts relate to the pandemic. We will bring forward legislation during this parliamentary session.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to include deposits of lodgers in deposit insurance schemes.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The requirement to hold a deposit in a recognised tenancy deposit scheme is restricted to landlords who let on assured shorthold tenancies. Most lodgers do not hold assured shorthold tenancies, but should they do so, their deposits would be covered by a recognised tenancy deposit scheme. The Government has no plans to extend the scope of tenancy deposit schemes.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 merits of introducing a new regulator for social housing.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Nothing is more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes. Residents’ voices need to be heard to ensure proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed. We want to ensure that there is a coherent and consistent approach to regulation to deliver these objectives, and achieve the best deal for tenants and landlords. Our review of social housing regulation is exploring the most appropriate way of doing so, and we will publish the results of that review in due course.