Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to work across Departments on supporting people with multiple complex needs who are homeless; and what steps he is taking to support such people out of homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 potential impact of extending the move-on period from 28 to 56 days for refugees leaving asylum support on homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to continue funding for the Rough Sleeping Initiative after 2025.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff working on the Building Safety Programme in his Department left in the 12 months to 30 April 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Programme and initiatives are staffed by civil servants working within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group of the department which has a wider set of responsibilities than the building safety initiatives.
45 employees permanently left the department having previously worked in the Safer and Greener Buildings Group in the 12 month period ending 30th April 2024. This is broadly equivalent to 11% of staff employed in the Group during the same period and circa 1% of the department’s total workforce in the same period.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release, Government wins landmark case against freeholder owned by multibillion pound railway pension fund, published on 9 May 2024, if he will make an estimate of the number of non-qualifying leaseholders affected by the five successful Remediation Orders.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The five buildings where remediation orders have successfully been achieved include 461 leasehold homes, which will be made safe due to Government intervention. A further 430 homes are subject to ongoing remediation order legal action to ensure remediation work is completed quickly, with one other block of 24 homes already made safe in advance of trial. This totals 915 homes and households.
In addition, remediation contribution orders have also been taken out against three organisations – Yianis Group, Urban Splash and Hollybrook Homes – relating to nine further buildings. This action seeks to recoup the cost of building remediation, including that charged to leaseholders whether they are qualifying or non-qualifying, of around £69.45 million at current estimates. This action impacts 1,035 households.
In total, the department’s Recovery Strategy Unit actions should mean 1,950 households are safer and more financially secure.
The department has not been provided with information regarding the number of non-qualifying leaseholders within these buildings.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release, Government wins landmark case against freeholder owned by multibillion pound railway pension fund, published on 9 May 2024, what the (a) legal and (b) administration costs to the public purse were in relation to the five successful Remediation Orders to date.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
These cases were groundbreaking and contentious, marking the first trials under the Building Safety Act. The newness of these cases inherently introduced complexity requiring careful consideration and analysis. On average each of the five successful orders incurred legal costs of approximately £170,000 (one hundred and seventy thousand pounds). We expect that, having been tested, these cases will incur lower costs in the future.
Whilst the information of administration costs is readily available, calculating the costs for this piece of work is challenging as the team handling the cases were also engaged in other tasks concurrently. Furthermore, oversight from colleagues adds to the complexity, making it harder to gauge the time spent, specifically on this work.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his open letter to registered providers on shared ownership and building safety of 19 December 2023, what information his Department holds on the number of providers that have made the details of (a) all relevant policies, (b) subletting and (c) selling and buyback terms available on their websites.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Following the Secretary of State’s letter to the sector last December, the department continues to work with registered providers of social housing and their representative groups, to ensure that relevant information is clearly available online for shared owners living in homes affected by building safety issues. We expect registered providers to update their websites with any necessary information at the earliest possible opportunity.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 Housing Minister's open letter to mortgage lenders on building safety of 12 January 2022, what information his Department holds on the number of lenders that have waived the annual 1% premium for shared owners who sublet.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Following the Secretary of State’s letter to the sector last December, the department continues to work with registered providers of social housing and their representative groups, to ensure that relevant information is clearly available online for shared owners living in homes affected by building safety issues. We expect registered providers to update their websites with any necessary information at the earliest possible opportunity.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of buildings under the developer remediation scheme that were (a) transferred out of Government funding schemes and (b) had not started works on site by 30 April 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As at 31 March 2024, developers had taken responsibility for remediating 414 buildings that had applied to the Building Safety Fund, in line with the terms of the developer remediation contract. We intend to publish data on the progress which developers are making towards remediating those buildings in due course.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 21335 on Flats: Fire Prevention, whether Jetty Court in Tower Hamlets is a relevant building under the developer remediation contract.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To date, no developer has accepted responsibility for remediating Jetty House. The building is being remediated through the Building Safety Fund. If the department concludes that the building is covered by the developer remediation contract, the developer responsible will be required to reimburse the cost of works, in line with the terms of the contract.