Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of requirements for social housing providers of houses in multiple occupation to address (a) mould and (b) damp in those properties.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The definition of a house in multiple occupation (HMO), and which buildings are not HMOs, is set out in the Housing Act 2004. According to schedule 14 of this Act, a building managed or controlled by a local housing authority, a non-profit registered provider of social housing or a body registered as a social landlord (under part 1 of the Housing Act 1996) is not an HMO. As such, it is not possible to have an HMO in the social housing sector.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 raising the existing cap of £450,000 for homes bought in London under the help to buy scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme closed to new customers on 31 October 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average length of time is for a successful nationally significant infrastructure project planning application to be granted approval.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Honourable member to the NSIP Action Plan.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department (a) holds and (b) publishes on the number of residential units controlled by management companies in England.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We do not hold or publish data on the number of residential units controlled by management companies in England.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of shared ownership properties there are in (a) London and (b) England.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Regulator of Social Housing collects and publishes information on low-cost home ownership housing owned by registered providers, including shared ownership. This information is available at the following link.
These data does not include information on units owned by non-registered providers. Shared ownership comprises the majority of the wider category of low-cost home ownership but cannot be separately identified from the available data.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many outstanding planning decisions that have been the subject of a public planning inquiry are awaiting final decision by him as of 13 November 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As of 13 November 2023, there were 14 planning decisions that have been the subject of a public planning inquiry and are with the Department for consideration. All will lead to decisions taken by Ministers.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 increase the Help to Buy equity loan scheme regional purchase price cap for properties in Greater London.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme closed to new customers on 31 October 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of residential buildings that contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) concrete.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 197493 on 11 September 2023.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 27 June 2023 to Question 190204 on Housing Ombudsman Service: Complaints, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time for the Housing Ombudsman Service to respond to complaints made regarding (a) housing associations and (b) the private rental sector.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department holds Accounting Officer meetings quarterly with the Ombudsman, where the focus is on tracking progress against performance indicators, including complaint handling times.
Recognising the growing demand, the Department has supported the Ombudsman by approving year on year increases in membership fees to increase numbers of staff dealing with social housing and private rented sector complaints.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken for the Housing Ombudsman Service to process complaints raised in 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department holds Accounting Officer meetings quarterly with the Ombudsman, where the focus is on tracking progress against performance indicators, including complaint handling times.
Recognising the growing demand, the Department has supported the Ombudsman by approving year on year increases in membership fees to increase numbers of staff dealing with social housing and private rented sector complaints.