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Written Question
Holiday Accommodation: Students
Wednesday 29th November 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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 impact of provisions in the Renters (Reform) Bill on the ability of students to acquire short-term lets for the purposes of their education.

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

Since introducing the Renters (Reform) Bill, we have heard from across the sector that the Bill would interrupt the student housing market, potentially reducing a vital supply of properties. We have listened to these concerns and recognise that further changes are needed.

We have amended the Bill to include a new ground for possession which will allow landlords of HMOs to seek possession ahead of each new academic year, facilitating the yearly cycle of short-term student tenancies. This will mean students can sign up to a property in advance, safe in the knowledge they will have somewhere to live while studying.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 22nd June 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Afghan refugees who are in hotels can apply for homelessness with any local authority.

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

We recognise the work of local authorities up and down the country in providing housing and integration support to enable Afghan families to begin their new lives in the UK. All Afghan arrivals via the ARAP and ACRS schemes have had the right to work and receive benefits from the first day of their arrival, as well as access to public services which includes housing and homelessness assistance.

Under homelessness legislation, the first local authority approached will need to take a homelessness application and assess what duties are owed. The council can then consider if a local connection referral is appropriate. In cases where there is no local connection, but there is a local connection to a different local authority; they may refer the household back to where they do have a local connection.


Written Question
Absent Voting: Proof of Identity
Friday 9th June 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reasons his Department plans to introduce voter identification for postal votes before its review into the effect of voter identification on the level of turnout in the 2023 council elections has concluded.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

These regulations are separate to the introduction of a requirement for photographic identification at the polling booth.


Written Question
Local Government: Elections
Thursday 18th May 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people in Canterbury were turned away from the polls because they did not have the required voting identification at the local elections on 4 May 2023.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions UIN 183152, 183999 and 183968 on 9, 11 and 16 May 2023


Written Question
Local Government: Elections
Thursday 18th May 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will conduct an equality impact assessment on the requirement of voter ID following the local elections on 4 May 2023.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions UIN 183152, 183999 and 183968 on 9, 11 and 16 May 2023


Written Question
Leasehold
Wednesday 17th May 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to assist non-qualifying leaseholders in selling their properties.

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

On 20 December 2022, the six largest mortgage lenders released a joint statement confirming that, subject to their normal policy requirements, they will consider mortgage applications on properties in buildings in England of 11 metres or 5 storeys and above with building safety issues. There is no requirement for the building to have been remediated or the lease to be qualifying, providing it is part of a developer or government remediation scheme, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act.


Written Question
Elections: Canterbury
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people on the electoral register in Canterbury who will be affected by the requirement to produce voter ID at the May 2023 local elections.

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

Further to the response to the UQ I gave on the floor of the House on 21 February 2023, the Cabinet Office has published an extensive survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, which includes geographical breakdowns. The results have been published here.


Written Question
Pest Control: Birds
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will review legislation on netting on buildings to deter birds.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and developers must consider the impact on local wildlife and take precautionary action to protect habitats, following Natural England guidelines. As set out in a letter from the late former Secretary of State, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, to developers in 2019, bird netting should be kept to a minimum and used only to help protect birds during development.

Anti-bird netting can be appropriate where there is a duty to ensure that pest species are prevented from multiplying and doing damage on public health grounds or to protect a heritage asset for instance. If care is taken to avoid cruelty through accidental trapping of a bird, we support local authorities and others who put up nets or spike arrays where necessary in the public interest.


Written Question
Local Government: Remote Meetings
Thursday 21st October 2021

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the Government's response to the Local Authority Remote Meetings call for evidence.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Department is reviewing the responses to the consultation and will respond in due course. Any permanent change would require legislation, and would depend upon Parliamentary time being available.


Written Question
Second Homes: Coronavirus
Tuesday 21st April 2020

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making holiday homes exempt from classification as domestic properties when that home is being used as a main residence for the duration of the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government has no plans to exempt homes from being classified as domestic properties other than where they are being used for business purposes. Where a property is used for non-domestic purposes, it is for the Valuation Office Agency to determine whether it should be liable for council tax or business rates.