Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the Home Building Fund has been allocated to property developers in each region since October 2016.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
In October 2016, the Government launched the £3 billion Home Building Fund, a fund which will provide loans for SME builders, custom builders and offsite construction, and which will unlock large sites throughout England. The £3 billion Home Building Fund is broken down into two funds:
The £1 billion short term fund (STF) is available to small builders, custom builders and innovators and the £2 billion long term fund (LTF) is to deliver infrastructure and site preparation for large sites, including brown field.
The below table presents, the proportion of the Home Building Fund (in terms of projects supported) in each region, as recorded by the Homes and Communities Agency, and broken down into long term funding and short term funding. Percentages may not total 100 per cent, as they are rounded to the nearest per cent.
HCA Region | LTF | STF |
East & South East | 31% | 6% |
London | 25% | 3% |
Midlands | 19% | 18% |
North East, Yorkshire & Humber | 13% | 41% |
North West | 0% | 14% |
South & South West | 13% | 13% |
National | 0% | 5% |
National projects are projects where sites are being delivered over multiple areas. This category also includes the £50 million which has been committed to the Housing Growth Partnership.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the cladding used at Grenfell Tower was approved for use when the tower was refurbished; and whether standards changed after that refurbishment.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government cannot release information specific to the Grenfell Tower, as this would cut across the police investigation currently underway.
The Department wrote to local authority and housing association landlords on 18 June, setting out immediate actions that should be taken to identify residential tower blocks over 18 metres in height with aluminium type external cladding. The Department wrote again on 19 June to set out the process they should follow to submit samples of aluminium composite material cladding for testing.
On 30 June, we published a note at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing. This note confirms the advice in those letters to local authorities, with further specific information about the tests being carried out.
On 6 July we published details of further tests to be carried out as the next step in helping landlords to ensure the safety of their buildings. These large scale tests will help establish how different types of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire. Further detail about the next testing stage can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/expert-panel-recommends-further-tests-on-cladding-and-insulation.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of successful applications to the Home Building Fund have been submitted by builders delivering less than 100 units per year since the introduction of that fund.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The £3 billion Home Building Fund provides long and short term loan finance to build the homes this country needs. To date the fund has allocated £1.181 billion (40 per cent) to successful applicants.
Of the £1 billion short term fund £0.445 billion (44 per cent) has been allocated to successful applicants. The proportion of schemes which will be delivered by small and medium sized builders is 70 per cent. Of which, nearly 90 per cent of these sites have fewer than 100 homes.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding is being put in place to support local authorities and social housing landlords repairing high-rise blocks as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Where Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding is present on residential buildings over 18 metres in height, the Government is providing testing for local authorities and housing associations free of charge. If the screening tests indicate that such cladding would not meet the limited combustibility requirements of the current Building Regulations guidance, it is for landlords in consultation with the fire and rescue service and other experts to determine, and take, the best course of action, communicating closely with residents. My Department has issued advice on the interim mitigating measures landlords should implement. Cost considerations must not get in the way of making sure that residents are safe. Where work is necessary to ensure the fire safety of a building, we will ensure that lack of financial resources will not prevent them going ahead.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to reassure the public about the adequacy of building standards.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to looking at wider issues following the Grenfell Tower fire and this work will now need to be informed by any recommendations that the independent inquiry make.
We have appointed an expert panel to advise us on immediate steps to be taken following the Grenfell Tower fire, and will act on those recommendations. The role of the expert panel and the advice already given is set out in a note published last week at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the material used to clad Grenfell Tower was approved under British standards and has subsequently failed British Research Establishment tests.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government cannot release information specific to the Grenfell Tower, as this would currently cut across the police investigation underway. A Government note was published last week at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing , which explains the requirements in Building Regulations for external walls not to allow fire spread.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential increase in heating costs for residents living in high-rise blocks from which cladding has been removed.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
No assessment has been made at this stage. The priority is on testing samples of cladding, as set out in a note published last week at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to decide whether sprinkler systems should be a mandatory requirement for high-rise buildings.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department wrote to all social housing providers in 2013, encouraging them to act on the recommendations in a Coroner’s report into firefighter deaths which occurred at Shirley Towers in Southampton in April 2010. That letter encouraged providers to consider the retrofitting of sprinklers in older residential tower blocks. The Department then reinforced the content of that letter in it’s response to the Coroner’s report into the Lakanal House Fire – a copy of which can be found at
We are committed to looking at wider issues following the Grenfell Tower fire and this work will now need to be informed by any recommendations that the independent inquiry makes.
We have appointed an expert panel to advise us on immediate steps to be taken following the Grenfell Tower fire, and will act on those recommendations where necessary. The role of the expert panel and the advice already given is set out in a note published last week at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of derelict and abandoned buildings.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The number of empty homes is at its lowest since records began. Local authorities have powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. Councils may also charge up to 150% council tax for homes empty for over two years. In addition, we have reformed permitted development rights to free up the planning system and encourage the conversion of existing commercial buildings into residential units
A local authority can also serve a notice under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to make good land and buildings that are not being properly maintained where the public amenity the area is being adversely affected. Where a section 215 notice has not been complied with, the local planning authorities can carry out the works and seek to recover the costs. Additionally local authorities also have powers under sections 76-79 of the Building Act to dealing with defective premises, dangerous buildings, ruinous/dilapidated buildings and neglected sites; section 29 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 for works on unoccupied buildings; and sections 79-82 of the Environmental Protection Act for abatement or prohibition of a nuisance.
Advice to local planning authorities on how to make the best use of their powers under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/town-and-country-planning-act-1990-section-215-best-practice-guidance
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will include provisions in the forthcoming Housing Bill to allow councils to include a question asking for the details (a) of a property's tenure and (b) of the landlord in rental properties on council tax forms.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Existing council tax legislation already allows local authorities to collect this data.