Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of Section 21 eviction notices served since the Government consultation on removing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 on 12 October 2019.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not routinely collect data on the number of Section 21 notices served by landlords. The service of a Section 21 notice precedes the court process for possession and does not necessarily lead to any action in court.
The Ministry of Justice publishes national statistics on possession actions in county courts by private and social landlords at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2020. This includes statistics on claims, orders, warrants and possessions.
We have changed the requirements on notice periods in response to the Coronavirus pandemic so that Section 21 notices issued on or after the 29th August must provide tenants with six months’ notice before a landlord can lodge a claim for possession in court.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of section 21 eviction notices served from 12 October 2019 to 12 October 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not routinely collect data on the number of Section 21 notices served by landlords. The service of a Section 21 notice precedes the court process for possession and does not necessarily lead to any action in court.
The Ministry of Justice publishes national statistics on possession actions in county courts by private and social landlords at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2020. This includes statistics on claims, orders, warrants and possessions.
We have changed the requirements on notice periods in response to the Coronavirus pandemic so that Section 21 notices issued on or after the 29th August must provide tenants with six months’ notice before a landlord can lodge a claim for possession in court.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the availability of winter night shelter provision during the covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The current advice remains that night shelters should remain closed for now – and providers should continue to explore alternative options for self-contained accommodation.
However, we recognise that the sector needs clarity on provision as winter approaches. We are working with the sector and health experts to consider operating principles shelters would need to follow so that they can be reopened as safely as possible, when self-contained accommodation cannot be made available. We will be setting out further advice on this as soon as possible.
On 17 September we announced local authority allocations for the short-term funding aspect of Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP). £91.5 million was allocated to 274 councils in England to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic. The remaining £13.5 million of funding will be used to support local authorities to tackle new and emerging challenges over the winter.
We are also funding significant longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers via the NSAP – 3,300 homes this year alone – and tailored support so as few people as possible housed in emergency accommodation return to life on the streets.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Accelerator Cities project in increasing low carbon home retrofit activity.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We welcome all initiatives in this area but my Department does not collect this information.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the proposed National Infrastructure Levy for increasing the delivery of on-site (a) social and (b) affordable housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We intend to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy. This new Levy would be a flat rate, value based charge, set nationally, at either a single rate, or at area specific rates, and charged on the final value of a development. The new Levy would be able to fund both affordable housing and supporting infrastructure. We will aim for the new Levy to raise more revenue than under the current system of developer contributions, and deliver at least as much – if not more – on-site affordable housing as at present. Our proposals are set out in our White Paper ‘Planning for the Future’ which was published on 6 August and is out to consultation until 29th October. The consultation responses will support the assessment of the proposals, and detailed design.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the proposed National Infrastructure Levy on the flexibility of affordable housing policies in high-value areas.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We intend to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy. This new Levy would be a flat rate, value based charge, set nationally, at either a single rate, or at area specific rates, and charged on the final value of a development. The new Levy would be able to fund both affordable housing and supporting infrastructure. We will aim for the new Levy to raise more revenue than under the current system of developer contributions, and deliver at least as much – if not more – on-site affordable housing as at present. Our proposals are set out in our White Paper ‘Planning for the Future’ which was published on 6 August and is out to consultation until 29th October. The consultation responses will support the assessment of the proposals, and detailed design.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the proposed National Infrastructure Levy on local authorities' prioritisation of the delivery of social and affordable housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We intend to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy. This new Levy would be a flat rate, value based charge, set nationally, at either a single rate, or at area specific rates, and charged on the final value of a development. The new Levy would be able to fund both affordable housing and supporting infrastructure. We will aim for the new Levy to raise more revenue than under the current system of developer contributions, and deliver at least as much – if not more – on-site affordable housing as at present. Our proposals are set out in our White Paper ‘Planning for the Future’ which was published on 6 August and is out to consultation until 29th October. The consultation responses will support the assessment of the proposals, and detailed design.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to analyse the extent of the use of options agreements in the English land market in order to understand how a shift to a zonal planning system will increase the amounts of land being made available to small and medium sized developers.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
My Department is currently consulting on options for increasing the transparency of contractual controls, including options agreements, used to exercise control over land. The consultation can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907213/Call_for_evidence_on_Contractual_Controls.pdf. It closes on 30 October 2020.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish modelling undertaken by his Department on the potential effect of the proposed expansion of the Small Sites Exemption Policy on (a) the number of sites likely to be exempted and (b) the delivery of social and affordable housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is currently consulting on this matter. Details of the impact are set out in the consultation document: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-current-planning-system.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to issue updated guidance to local authorities on the reopening of public toilets as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has made clear through Covid-19 guidance, which is updated regularly, that public toilets, portable toilets and toilets inside premises should be kept open and carefully managed to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19. This includes, for example, guidance on Safer Public Places - Urban Centres and Green Spaces and Working safely during Coronavirus.
To help everyone maintain good hygiene, consideration should be given to configuration of toilets facilities to ensure they are kept clean, with social distancing achieved as far as possible and with best practice handwashing followed.