Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to reply to Question 2676 on Council Housing: Finance tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on 30 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2676 on 13 November 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to answer Question 2677 on Right to Buy Scheme tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on 30 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2677 on 13 November 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government , if she will make an estimate of the real-terms value of the total of discounts claimed under Right to Buy in each local authority in England and Wales in each year since 1989.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The total amount of Right to Buy discounts per local authority from 2011-12 onwards is available in Section B of the Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) available here Local authority housing data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), with the latest data included in the LAHS open data Local Authority Housing Statistics open data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Discounts data prior to 2011-12 are not available by local authority. At England level, the average discount from 1998-99 is available in live table 682 Live tables on social housing sales - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Figures are not available for earlier periods.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing councils with grants to buy homes from the market to convert the tenure of these homes to council housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will support councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. As a first step, we have given councils the ability to combine Right to Buy receipts with section 106 contributions and removed the caps on the percentage of replacements delivered as acquisitions and the percentage cost of a replacement home that can be funded using Right to Buy receipts. These flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review. We encourage councils to make the best use of these flexibilities and to achieve a good balance between acquisitions and new builds. We have also confirmed the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund will be going ahead, with £450 million to councils to acquire and deliver homes for families at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by The Community Land Trust Network entitled Community Housing Fund Delivery Review, published 19th September 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits including building affordable homes, increasing community participation and strengthening the co-operative economy. I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to discuss how the government can best support the growth of community-led housing. This will include drawing on research and experience across the sector, including the Community Housing Fund Delivery Review.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to release capital investment for community led housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits including building affordable homes, increasing community participation and strengthening the co-operative economy. I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to discuss how the government can best support the growth of community-led housing. This will include drawing on research and experience across the sector, including the Community Housing Fund Delivery Review.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will set out her timetable to bring forward regulations relating to Schedule 3 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to allow Community Land Trusts to obtain community housing certificates to exempt homes from leasehold enfranchisement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include specified exemptions for community-led housing from the ban on new leasehold houses and freehold acquisition. This will be provided the community-led housing provider obtains a certificate from the relevant Tribunal.
The implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation and we will set out the details in due course.
With regard to new leasehold flats, the government is committed to banning their sale and making commonhold the default tenure and we intend to consult on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take legislative steps to support the continued provision of leasehold flats and houses by (a) Community Land Trusts and (b) other community-led providers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include specified exemptions for community-led housing from the ban on new leasehold houses and freehold acquisition. This will be provided the community-led housing provider obtains a certificate from the relevant Tribunal.
The implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation and we will set out the details in due course.
With regard to new leasehold flats, the government is committed to banning their sale and making commonhold the default tenure and we intend to consult on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Right to Buy and associated discounts on the value for money of grant spending on new council housing through the Affordable Housing Programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities can bid for grant funding through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) to support delivery of affordable homes. If a home built using AHP grant is sold via the Right to Buy, then the local authority must either recycle the relevant grant or return it to Homes England or the Greater London Authority so that it can be used for another permitted purpose, including the delivery of new homes. These requirements ensure that grant issued through the AHP is used efficiently and in a way that secures value for money. As such, we have not made a specific assessment as outlined in the question.
The Government is undertaking a rapid review of the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012 and will bring forward more detail and secondary legislation this Autumn. We will also review the Right to Buy more widely, including looking at eligibility criteria and protections for new homes and will bring forward a consultation in the Autumn.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the amount held by each (a) council and (b) other planning authority in unspent Section 106 and developer contributions towards affordable housing..
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities are required to publish an infrastructure funding statement annually on their websites. These should include information on the amount of unspent developer contributions they hold at the end of each reporting year and the amount spent during the year, including on affordable housing.