Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to raise the default minimum accessibility requirement to the M4(2) Accessible and Adaptable standard for all new residential buildings.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I understand that accessibility in new homes, and accessibility standards for buildings in general, are an important concern. Housing is one of this Government’s top priorities, everyone deserves to live in a decent home in which they feel safe. We will set out our policies on accessible new build housing shortly.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to tackle high services charges for leaseholders in Battersea.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to bring forward an amendment to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill to ban forfeiture.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support his Department is providing to leaseholders in Battersea who are facing service charges increases.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to introduce legislation to create a regulator for service charges.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether it remains his policy to introduce a cap on ground rents to a peppercorn value.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government recently consulted on a range of options to restrict ground rents for existing leases. Alongside the consultation we published a consultation impact assessment, assessing the expected costs and benefits of each of the policy options. This can be found here: Consultation impact assessment - modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK.
We are carefully considering the responses we have received and will set out next steps due course.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 203403 on 23 October 2023.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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.