Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2018 to Question 174628 on Leasehold, what the timeframe is for bringing forward the legislative proposals to tackle unfair leasehold practices for existing leaseholders.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Following on from the 2017 consultation referred to in the answer of 9 October 2018, to Question UIN174628, the Department published a technical consultation on how to implement the Government’s reforms to the leasehold system in England on 15 October. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-reforms-to-the-leasehold-system . The consultation marked the next step in the Government’s commitment to tackle excessive and unjustifiable practices in the leasehold sector, making home ownership fairer for all. The consultation closed on 26 November, we will publish the Government response in due course and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the publication of the recommendations of the consultation entitled, Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease, published by the Law Commission in September 2018.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Law Commission's consultation entitled 'Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease' closed on 7 January 2019. We are informed that the Commission has received numerous, and detailed, responses to the consultation which will require detailed analysis to inform the final report and recommendations. The expected date for the publication of the final report is Summer 2019. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government continue to discuss the timetable for the remainder of the project with the Law Commission.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses the Government received from leaseholders in response to the Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market consultation.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government's consultation 'Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market' ran for eight weeks from 25 July to 19 September 2017. The consultation received 6,075 responses; 5,701 via an online survey and 374 via email and post. Of those responding to the online survey providing background information, 5,336 respondents said they were private individuals, of which 2,790 answered a follow up question confirming they were a leaseholder living in a house, with 1,699 confirming they were a leaseholder living in a flat and 431 identifying themselves as a freeholder. 332 respondents identified themselves as replying to the consultation on behalf of an organisation.
A full breakdown of responses by type and question can be found at Annex A of the Government response, published on 21 December 2017 available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-unfair-practices-in-the-leasehold-market.
The Government also ran a separate technical consultation, ‘Implementing reforms to the leasehold system’ during 15 October 2018 to 26 November 2018, and is still analysing the responses. As part of our consultation questions we did not ask the respondent to identify whether they were a leaseholder. However, we received 1030 responses which were completed as personal views.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have met with property development companies during the consultation entitled Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government's consultation 'Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market' ran for eight weeks from 25 July to 19 September 2017, and the response was published on 21 December 2017.
During that period, the then Secretary of State met Long Harbour and the Home Builders Federation and had discussions on the use of open-ended ground rent arrangements on new build leasehold properties. In addition, the then Minister of State for Housing, met the Building Societies Association to have similar discussions.
The Government also ran a separate consultation, ‘Implementing reforms to the leasehold system’ during 15 October 2018 to 26 November 2018 and is still analysing the responses.
During this period, the Housing Minister met the Home Builders’ Federation on 5 November 2018 to discuss leasehold reforms. On 8 November 2018, the Secretary of State held a round table with developers and investors, setting out his concerns regarding onerous ground rents and the lack of redress for existing leaseholders. The answer to question UIN189727 of 19 November 2018 details the attendees of the round table.
A full list of ministerial meetings up until 30 September 2018 is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data and is updated regularly.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions the Government has met with (a) property development companies and (b) builders to discuss the leasehold law for existing leaseholders; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Ministers have engaged with industry on several occasions to discuss issues facing existing leaseholders. On 5 November, Minister Wheeler met with the Home Builders Federation and raised the issue of consumer redress in the leasehold market. On 8 November, the Secretary of State held a round table with developers and investors, setting out his concerns regarding onerous ground rents and the lack of redress for existing leaseholders. The answer to question UIN189727 of 19 November 2018, details the attendees of the round table.
A full list of ministerial meetings up until 30 September 2018 is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data and is updated regularly.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
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 bring forward legislative proposals in response to the tackling unfair lease practices in the leasehold market consultation.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
On 21 December 2017, the Government set out a package of measures to tackle abuses and unfair practices in the leasehold market. This includes introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances, and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn.
We are also working with the Law Commission to support existing leaseholders - including making buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.
We will bring forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to sell the Help to Buy loan book; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dominic Raab
As part of the Balance Sheet Review announced at Autumn Budget 17, the Government is reviewing its approach to all of its assets and liabilities, including the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to sell the Help to Buy loan book to outside financial organisations; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dominic Raab
As part of the Balance Sheet Review announced at Autumn Budget 17, the Government is reviewing its approach to all of its assets and liabilities, including the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing,Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 December 2017, HCWS384, what steps he is taking to ensure that existing owners of houses purchased under a leasehold agreement will benefit from the same protections afforded to new buyers.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government response to the consultation on ‘Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’ set out a range of measures to cut out unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system. This included introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances, and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value).
For existing leaseholders, the Government wants to see developer compensation schemes going further and faster, with support extended to all those with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers and for customers to be proactively contacted. We will be keeping a close eye on progress and will consider measures that could be pursued to take action if necessary.
We want to make it easier for existing leaseholders to exercise their right to buy their freehold, or extend their lease, for this to be faster, fairer and cheaper, and to be available as soon as possible.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the amount of time housing association tenants with disabilities or long-term illness spend in care home accommodation while their house is adapted to meet their needs.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
This Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely at home.
In order to comply with the Social Housing Regulator's Home Standard, housing associations need to ensure they have a prudent, planned approach to repairs and maintenance of homes, including adaptations. Registered providers must co-operate with relevant organisations to provide an adaptations service that meets tenants’ needs.
Housing associations are independent bodies and it is up to their boards to oversee business and operational matters including funding of repairs and adaptations. The board needs to ensure that their organisation is open and accountable on how it meets its objectives and must meet the standards set by the social housing regulator.
The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is a Government funded grant that is available to eligible tenants in housing association properties. The grant can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an older or disabled person’s property. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 states that local authorities should approve or decline an application for a DFG as soon as reasonably practicable (and not later than with six months of being made). It is expected that local authorities should complete the works in a timely manner.
Since 2012-13, the Government has invested over £1.6 billion into the DFG, providing around 250,000 adaptations by the end of the 2017-18 financial year. In the 2015 Spending Review, the DFG received year-on-year increases and will more than double from £220 million in 2015-16 to over £500 million by 2020.
Liverpool was given £6,437,470 from the original DFG budget of £431 million for 2017-18. It will also be allocated a share of funding from the additional £42 million for the grant announced in Budget 2017, which will take the total amount to over £7 million. This additional funding is going to be paid out in January 2018.