To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Disability
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the (a) challenges faced by disabled renters in the private rented sector and (b) potential impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on tackling those challenges.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government is committed to helping disabled people to live independently and safely in their home. The Renters (Reform) Bill will help improve the quality of privately rented homes by introducing a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector for the first time. This will ensure tenants, including those with disabilities, benefit from homes that are safe and decent.

Through the abolition of Section 21 evictions, the Bill will give all tenants greater security in their home and will empower disabled tenants to challenge poor practice and request home adaptations where they are needed, without worrying about retaliatory eviction by their landlord. The Bill will also create a new PRS Landlord Ombudsman which tenants can complain to if they think their landlord unreasonably refused permission to make an adaptation to their home. The Bill will also make practices by landlords and/or those acting on their behalf which discriminate against those who receive benefits, including disability benefits, illegal.

We are working with a range of stakeholders to understand what information is important to tenants when using the property portal and will outline this in regulations.


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Databases
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

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 an assessment of the potential merits of using the Property Portal to record accessibility information on private sector dwellings.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government is committed to helping disabled people to live independently and safely in their home. The Renters (Reform) Bill will help improve the quality of privately rented homes by introducing a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector for the first time. This will ensure tenants, including those with disabilities, benefit from homes that are safe and decent.

Through the abolition of Section 21 evictions, the Bill will give all tenants greater security in their home and will empower disabled tenants to challenge poor practice and request home adaptations where they are needed, without worrying about retaliatory eviction by their landlord. The Bill will also create a new PRS Landlord Ombudsman which tenants can complain to if they think their landlord unreasonably refused permission to make an adaptation to their home. The Bill will also make practices by landlords and/or those acting on their behalf which discriminate against those who receive benefits, including disability benefits, illegal.

We are working with a range of stakeholders to understand what information is important to tenants when using the property portal and will outline this in regulations.


Written Question
Caius House: Fire Prevention
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to provide funding to registered charity Caius House in Battersea for the costs it incurred for a waking watch in a high rise building with fire safety defects that was found not to have been required.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 203403 on 23 October 2023.


Written Question
Charities: Fire Prevention
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department provides financial support for registered charities to cover (a) a waking watch and (b) other fire remediation costs.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

Registered charities may submit an application to the Waking Watch Replacement Fund, the Building Safety Fund and/or the Cladding Safety Scheme if they are the responsible entity (usually the freeholder) of a building that meets the eligibility requirements of these funding schemes. This includes registered charities that provide of social housing if they are the responsible entity for the building.


Further information on the eligibility criteria is available through the Waking Watch Replacement Fund; the Building Safety Fund ; and the Cladding Safety Scheme.


Written Question
Housing: Insulation
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

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 extend the Medium Rise Pilot Scheme to other eligible medium-rise buildings; and whether that date is dependent on the effectivness of the Pilot Scheme.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) opened in full on 24 July and is available to all eligible medium-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres across England, and applications for high-rise buildings over 18 metres outside of London. The Scheme will provide funding for the management of unsafe cladding in England, where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible.

The CSS is one of a number of remediation schemes that is being funded by Government. Funding for the whole of the building safety programme will be met by a combination of the £5.1 billion already allocated by government, refunds from housing developers and revenue from the Building Safety Levy.

Further details on eligibility, the application process and further guidance can be found here.


Written Question
Housing: Insulation
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funding he plans to allocate to the Medium Rise Pilot Scheme; and whether that funding will cover all outstanding works.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) opened in full on 24 July and is available to all eligible medium-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres across England, and applications for high-rise buildings over 18 metres outside of London. The Scheme will provide funding for the management of unsafe cladding in England, where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible.

The CSS is one of a number of remediation schemes that is being funded by Government. Funding for the whole of the building safety programme will be met by a combination of the £5.1 billion already allocated by government, refunds from housing developers and revenue from the Building Safety Levy.

Further details on eligibility, the application process and further guidance can be found here.


Written Question
Housing: Insulation
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Hester Road building in London has been accepted on to the Medium Rise Pilot Scheme.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) opened in full on 24 July and is available to all eligible medium-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres across England, and applications for high-rise buildings over 18 metres outside of London. The Scheme will provide funding for the management of unsafe cladding in England, where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible.

The CSS is one of a number of remediation schemes that is being funded by Government. Funding for the whole of the building safety programme will be met by a combination of the £5.1 billion already allocated by government, refunds from housing developers and revenue from the Building Safety Levy.

Further details on eligibility, the application process and further guidance can be found here.


Written Question
Buildings: Fire Prevention
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues on liability for fire safety renovation costs on buildings over 18 meters.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Department has a range of guidance on the subject of fire remediation; guidance on the obligations on building owners under the Building Safety Act 2022 can be found here. 

Where developers or building owners are not currently funding cladding remediation, the Government has accepted funding applications for the remediation of ACM and non-ACM cladding on high-rise residential buildings (buildings over 18 metres) from responsible entities. Should a registered charity also qualify as a responsible entity, their application would be treated in the same way as other responsible entities.

Guidance on how to apply to the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.

Guidance on how to apply to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.

Guidance on how to apply for the remediation of non-ACM cladding via the Building Safety Fund can be found here.


Written Question
Charities: Fires
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

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 guidance on fire remediation works funding for registered charities in developments over 18 meters.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Department has a range of guidance on the subject of fire remediation; guidance on the obligations on building owners under the Building Safety Act 2022 can be found here. 

Where developers or building owners are not currently funding cladding remediation, the Government has accepted funding applications for the remediation of ACM and non-ACM cladding on high-rise residential buildings (buildings over 18 metres) from responsible entities. Should a registered charity also qualify as a responsible entity, their application would be treated in the same way as other responsible entities.

Guidance on how to apply to the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.

Guidance on how to apply to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.

Guidance on how to apply for the remediation of non-ACM cladding via the Building Safety Fund can be found here.


Written Question
Buildings: Insurance
Wednesday 28th June 2023

Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will introduce proposals to help (a) protect leaseholders who reside in mixed use residential-commercial buildings from facing disproportionate shares of the total insurance costs of the building and (b) ensure that commercial entities in mixed use buildings contribute a proportionate percentage to the total insurance premium of a building.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The Secretary of State has previously announced that the Government intends to ban insurance brokers from sharing commissions with managing agents, landlords and freeholders. In parallel, we are working with industry to ensure charges can be justified based on work undertaken. Questions regarding the regulation of insurance brokers' commissions should be directed to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Individual leases set out what service charges pay for and the proportion of the charge that each leaseholder is required to pay. We are committed to protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on the things for which their service charges pay, and ensuring service charges are transparent and communicated effectively, removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong. This will help leaseholders more effectively challenge their landlord if they consider their fees are unreasonable. We are also planning reforms to prevent unjustified legal fees when challenging costs.