Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support the Government provides to tenants in the private rented sector to ensure they are not priced out of their accommodation.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
We believe the key to improving affordability for tenants is to build more homes for rent. Institutional investment in purpose-built privately rented homes is increasing, with over 29,000 homes delivered since 2012, and around 110,000 in the pipeline. We supported the Build to Rent sector with a £3.5 billion Private Rented Sector Guarantee Scheme and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.
We are also committed to making housing for rent more affordable now. This includes:
banning lettings fees paid by tenants and capping tenancy deposits with the Tenant Fees Bill, which will come into force on 1 June 2019.
supporting landlords and tenants to agree appropriate rent increases through the free-to-use model tenancy agreement.
supporting tenants that have difficulty paying the rent via Targeted Affordability Funding that will top-up Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in areas where affordability pressures are greatest.
providing an enhanced Discretionary Housing Payment fund for Local Authorities to protect the most vulnerable claimants impacted by welfare reforms such as the freeze to LHA rates.
making £20 million available through the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Access Fund to enable better access and sustainment of tenancies for people who are, or at risk of becoming, homeless.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of rules regulating the installation and operation of digital signage in residential areas and the effect of light pollution from these signs on local residents.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The display of advertisements is controlled by reference to their effect on amenity and public safety. Where express consent to display an advertisement is needed, local planning authorities are required to consider the effect on amenity and public safety, taking account of cumulative impacts. Depending on the location and nature of a proposed advertisement, this could include consideration of the impacts of light pollution on local residents. This is a matter of judgement for local planning authorities.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many leasehold properties were (a) built and (b) approved in (i) England and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
(a) Leasehold properties built are included within the quarterly statistics on house building; new build dwelling completions that the Department collects from each building control inspector. However, figures for them are not separately identified.
The Department’s statistics on the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme are published and available at the following link. This includes Tables 9, 9a and 9b with legal completions by property type and tenure (freehold and leasehold) on a cumulative, quarterly and local authority basis.
In December 2017, the Government announced new measures to cut out unfair practices within the leasehold system, including a ban on leaseholds for almost all new build houses. We consulted on the technical detail of this in October 2018, and are currently analysing the almost 1,300 responses. We will publish our response in due course.
The Government has also announced that no future Government funded schemes will support the build and sale of leasehold houses. This will apply to the new Help to Buy scheme from April 2021.
(b) Planning approvals for leasehold properties are included within the quarterly statistics on planning decisions that the Department collects from each local planning authority. However, figures for them are not separately identified.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 validity of reports that Lancashire County Council will have a deficit of £118 million by 2021.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Through the settlement, local government has been given access to £45.1 billion in 2018 - 19 and £45.6 billion in 2019 - 20. This is an overall increase since 2017 - 18 of £1.3 billion, in recognition of increasing pressures, including demand for adult's and children's services.
It is then for every local authority to make arrangements for proper management of their financial affairs, including developing plans to meet local spending commitments. As such, the Secretary of State has not made any assessment of the validity of figures disclosed in any reports.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 27 April 2018 to Question 137467, on Temporary Accommodation, how much of the £100 million programme for low-cost move on accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis into independent living has been allocated to each local authority area.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
We are carefully considering the design of the programme outside of London, including allocation of the remaining funding, to ensure strategic alignment with the Rough Sleeping Strategy, which we will publish in July.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 16 April 2018 to Question 134374 on Fire Prevention: Preston, what discussions his Department has had with Preston City Council on the external cladding installed on the exterior of properties in the (a) Fishwick, (b) St Matthews and (c) Town Centre wards under the Community Energy Saving Programme; and whether that cladding has made properties unsafe to reside in due to risk of fire or mould.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Department has been in contact with all local authorities in England about high rise residential buildings and cladding as part of its Building Safety Programme. Information being collected through this exercise is set out in monthly data releases which are published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme#data-on-the-building-safety-progamme. The issue of mould was raised at an earlier time with the Department and general advice on Building Regulations would have been provided.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps have been taken as part of the £100 million programme for low-cost move on accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis into independent living; and how much of that money has been spent to date.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
£50 million has been allocated to the Greater London Authority who are working closely with those in the homelessness sector to deploy the fund in the capital.
It is our priority to ensure that the Move On Fund meets the needs of those who are homeless and victims of domestic abuse, as such the Department is carefully considering the design of the programme for the rest of England, in particular to ensure a strategic alignment with the Rough Sleeping Strategy to be published in July.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Preston City Council on external cladding on buildings in Fishwick, Town Centre and St Matthews wards in Preston.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Building Safety Programme has been working with local authorities and building owners across England to identify properties that might have potentially unsafe cladding systems.
For all of those high-rise buildings that have been confirmed as having Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding that does not meet the limited combustibility requirements set out in current building regulations guidance, the relevant fire and rescue service has been notified.
We have worked with local authorities, housing associations, fire and rescue services and building owners to ensure that immediate steps are taken to make buildings safe.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which faith and regeneration projects the Government works with to meet recommendation one of the Government Response to the Women and Equalities Committee Report on Employment Opportunities for Muslims in the UK, published in December 2016, Cm 9371, to rebuild trust with Muslim communities by improving the life chances of disadvantaged communities.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department for Communities and Local Government supports a number of programmes that seek to bring communities together.
We are providing £1.65 million in 2017/18 to support the Near Neighbours programme, which has enabled Muslim women to develop a range of employment and life skills. We have funded Nisa-Nashim which brings together Jewish and Muslim women around the themes of business, culture, social action, sports and well-being. In 2015/16 we provided support through a Women’s Empowerment fund to 14 separate projects working with women from isolated and BME communities.
The forthcoming integration strategy will further set out how we will support people in more isolated communities and assist women, in particular into the workplace, and teach more people to speak English.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the ruling of Leeds City Council v Broadley on 6 December 2016, what plans he has to amend Guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of council tax arrears, published in June 2013; and what steps he is taking to enable district and unitary councils in England and Wales to obtain council tax payments from tenants who have vacated periodic tenancies without notice.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The guidance “Good practice in the collection of Council Tax arrears” sets out clear advice for councils to use in the collection and enforcement of council tax debt. The Government has no plans at present to update this, but as with all guidance will keep it under review in conjunction with local authorities and other interested parties.