Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the licensing criteria for Houses in Multiple Occupation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is important that private rented properties are safe, well-maintained, and properly managed. Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing schemes play a crucial role in achieving this.
The Renters’ Rights Bill introduces reforms to drive-up standards within the private rented sector properties, including HMOs. This includes a Decent Homes Standard and new enforcement powers for local authorities.
We will keep the regulation of HMOs under review.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Renters' Rights Bill will place penalties on landlords who have been unable to sell their properties and want to re-rent.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters’ Rights Bill will introduce a new ground for possession for landlords who wish to sell their property. To prevent abuse of this ground, landlords will not be able to market or re-let their property for twelve months after using the selling ground. This will remove the financial incentive to landlords from misusing the grounds and evicting a tenant with the intention to re-let at a higher rent.
Once the legislation is in place, landlords could be given a fine of up to £40,000 by local councils if they market or re-let their properties within twelve months of using the moving and selling grounds. Tenants will also be able to seek Rent Repayment Orders for this offence. Tenants will be able toc challenge evictions in court if they believe the landlord is misusing the grounds. If this happens, the landlord will need demonstrate that their intention to sell or move in is genuine.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on steps to improve public engagement with politics.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN 901650 on 5 December 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what target she has set for the total number of dispersal accommodation centres available to victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
This government is committed to tackling violence against women and girls and supporting victims of domestic abuse.
Since 2021, local authorities in England have a duty to ensure domestic abuse victims and their children who need to flee their homes have access to support within safe accommodation when they need it. MHCLG has defined in regulations the types of safe accommodation that support to victims can be delivered in, including dispersed accommodation.
MHCLG has allocated £160 million to local authorities in 2025/26 to help them deliver their duty, a £30 million uplift from the previous year.
This revenue funding is for local authorities to fund provision of lifesaving support for victims and their children within safe accommodation, including dispersed accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine how best to allocate the funding MHCLG has provided to meet local needs, in line with a local needs assessment and strategy.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of people who were evicted from their properties in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on possession claim actions in the county court. It can be found on gov.uk here.
The data includes the volumes of repossessions carried out by county court bailiffs in mortgage and landlord possession cases. It does not include cases where a tenant has left their property voluntarily following a notice for eviction.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many single parents with more than two children have been evicted through a Section 21 notice in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not hold granular data on Section 21 evictions, either year by year or by the demographics of those affected.
However, the English Private Landlord Survey 2024 indicated that Section 21 notices are the most common way landlords evict tenants, and we know that chronic insecurity in the private rented sector has real-life consequences for individuals and families, including single parents.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including the long-delayed abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The Bill will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many single parents that have been evicted through a Section 21 notice in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not hold granular data on Section 21 evictions, either year by year or by the demographics of those affected.
However, the English Private Landlord Survey 2024 indicated that Section 21 notices are the most common way landlords evict tenants, and we know that chronic insecurity in the private rented sector has real-life consequences for individuals and families, including single parents.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including the long-delayed abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The Bill will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Section 21 evictions have taken place in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not hold granular data on Section 21 evictions, either year by year or by the demographics of those affected.
However, the English Private Landlord Survey 2024 indicated that Section 21 notices are the most common way landlords evict tenants, and we know that chronic insecurity in the private rented sector has real-life consequences for individuals and families, including single parents.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including the long-delayed abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The Bill will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a searchable public database of political adverts to improve transparency for political (a) advertising, (b) donations and (c) spending.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Under UK law, those promoting eligible digital campaigning material targeted at the UK electorate are required to include an imprint with their name and address, supporting the transparency of political material online.
Political parties, candidates and third party campaigners are subject to campaign spending limits at UK elections. For transparency, they are already required to report on their spending and donations and provide invoices for payments over a certain amount, including money spent on advertising. Following an election, the Electoral Commission publishes details of campaign spending and donations on their website, and details of candidate spending are available from the relevant local authority.
We have no plans at this time to introduce a requirement for a public database of political adverts but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”. We will continue to keep political advertising transparency rules under review.
The Government are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and, as stated in our manifesto, we intend to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that eligible voters are on the electoral register.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The electoral register is the foundation of our democratic processes, showing who is eligible to vote in which elections. The Government is committed to improving how registration works, including the use of data and online services to help increase registration levels so that everyone who is eligible to vote can vote.