Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of homes defined as affordable for purchase; and how many social rented homes are planned to be built in rural areas in the South West each year under the new planning proposals.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The department publishes the number of new affordable homes for purchase completed (including acquisitions) and starts on site. The number of new completions and starts on site of shared ownership properties can be found in live tables 1007bC and 1007bS, respectively; while the number of new completions and starts on site of affordable home ownership properties can be found in live tables 1007cC and 1007cS. These tables can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply .
We do not set delivery targets for social housing. The Government is investing £12.2 billion in affordable housing over 5 years from next year. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will provide up to 180,000 new affordable homes, should economic conditions allow. In this new Programme, 10 per cent of delivery outside of London will be targeted at rural communities.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he holds information on examples of local authority planning enforcement having been outsourced to private companies.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is for local planning authorities to decide how best to carry out their planning enforcement functions. The Department does not hold information on which authorities have outsourced enforcement work to private companies.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government has taken to support small landlords in disputes with tenants who had refused to pay rent before the covid-19 outbreak and who are now unable to evict those tenants as a result of measures put in place to support renters in genuine need during the outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The best way to support landlords is by helping tenants to pay their rent. The Government has brought forward a significant economic response, including support for business to pay staff salaries through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Job Support Scheme. We have also introduced over £9 billion of measures in 2020/21 that benefit those facing financial disruption due to the current situation. These measures include increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £1,040 a year for the next 12 months, and a significant investment in the Local Housing Allowance of nearly £1 billion, lifting rates to the 30th percentile from April this year. Discretionary Housing Payments can also be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in their housing costs.
Where landlords have found themselves in coronavirus-related hardship, mortgage lenders have agreed to offer payment holidays of up to three months, including for buy-to-let mortgages. On 2 June, the Financial Conduct Authority confirmed that borrowers can apply for an extension to any holiday already taken while extending the window for new applications to 31 October.
As we move forward, we have taken steps to ensure that landlords can recover their properties in the most serious circumstances whilst still protecting tenants.
Courts restarted possession proceedings on Monday 21 September 2020. The listing of the cases is a matter for the judiciary but they will be prioritising the most serious cases, including extreme rent arrears.
The Coronavirus Act 2020 means landlords must now provide six months’ notice of their intention to seek possession. However, for the most serious cases notice periods have been lowered to give landlords the ability to regain possession more quickly. This includes only requiring 4 weeks’ notice when arrears are equivalent to at least six months’ rent. This supports landlords with tenants in pre-COVID arrears to pursue repossession more quickly.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the next tranche of coastal communities funding will be made available; and how local organisations will be able to access it.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Coastal Communities Fund supports coastal projects delivering sustainable growth and jobs across the UK.Since 2012 the Fund has awarded grants to 369 projects across the UK to the value of £229 million.
Round 5 was announced in 2018 and 2019, with £50.7 million going to 47 projects.
A manifesto commitment was made to extend the Fund to 2022 helping to continue to drive growth in UK coastal areas
Whether there is another round of the Coastal Communities Fund is a matter for the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to support shared-ownership housing scheme applicants who are enrolled on the Government furlough scheme.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The furlough scheme is a strong package of financial support, so where they can, shared owners should still pay the rent to their landlord and mortgage to their lender as normal.
Shared owners who are struggling to meet their financial commitments can apply for universal credit to get help paying their rent and might be able to get Support for Mortgage Interest if they have been on benefits for 39 weeks without any breaks.
On 17 March the Chancellor also announced, on behalf of the sector, that banks and building societies will offer a 3-month ‘mortgage holiday’ for borrowers struggling financially as a result of COVID-19. Like other mortgage holders, shared owners who are struggling to meet their mortgage payments will be able to request a mortgage payment holiday from their lender.
Shared owners should not be forced out of their home during this difficult time. The Coronavirus Act 2020 rules that landlords must give three months’ notice of possession, and the moratorium on repossessions by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) means that lenders should not commence or continue repossession proceedings against their customers.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
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 placing a limit on the number of times a planning application can be submitted for the same site.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local planning authorities already have powers to decline to determine applications if they have previously refused permission for two or more substantially similar applications on the same site, or if a substantially similar application has been rejected by the Secretary of State on appeal or following call-in, within the past two years.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Community Housing fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Ministers and Officials from the Department have regular discussions with counterparts in HM Treasury on a range of issues, including on housing related matters.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the Community Housing fund after March 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Community Housing Fund is currently scheduled to close in March 2020. Ministers are considering all budgets in the round and allocations for 2020/21 will be confirmed at Main Estimates in the Spring. Allocations for future years will be considered at the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review.
The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through speculative development.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of paperwork required for the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government published a consultation paper in December 2018 setting out proposals to make the system of developer contributions more efficient, transparent and accountable. The proposals will reduce the level of paperwork. For example, when a home owner obtains an exemption for a residential extension they will not be required to submit a commencement notice to the local authority before the building work commences. The forms ensure that the developer provides the necessary information to enable the local authority to make a fair and transparent assessment of the levy liabilities. They provide certainty for all parties, reduce the need to seek further information and provide a clear audit trail.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing a standards board for local councils.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
We abolished the Standards Board regime as it was a top down, centralist regime which had unfortunately become a vehicle for petty, malicious and politically motivated complaints. In its place the Localism Act 2011 created a robust framework for local authority standards arrangements. This requires local authorities to promote and maintain high standards of conduct and adopt a code that is consistent with the seven ‘Nolan’ Principles.
The Government is awaiting early in the New Year the publication of the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s Review of Local Government Ethical Standards. The Government will consider the CSPL report carefully, and we will publish our response in due course.