Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of Section 21 evictions issued, by (a) ethnicity and (b) gender of the person being evicted, in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
There is no requirement on landlords to notify the Government when they serve notice of their intention to seek possession to their tenant. As such, the Department does not hold data on the number of Section 21 notices issued by ethnicity, or the gender of the person being evicted.
If the tenant does not vacate the property after the expiry of a notice, a landlord is required to make a claim for possession in the county court to legally regain possession of the property. This can result in the property being repossessed by a county court bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer if the case is not otherwise resolved.
The Mortgage and Landlord Repossession Statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, record the number of claims for possession brought by landlords in the county court in each quarter, and the number of repossessions carried out by county court bailiffs. These statistics show that there were 359 evictions via the accelerated procedure (section 21) in April to June 2021 but data on the ethnicity or gender of the occupiers whose property was repossessed is not collected.
The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of banning orders issued under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 in the last 12 months.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Local authorities are required make an entry on the database of rogue landlords and property agents where a person or organisation has received a banning order. In the last 12 months, there have been no entries made as a result of banning orders issued under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 potential merits of proposals for a mandatory register of landlords.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government has committed to exploring the merits of introducing a national landlord register in England as part of a commitment to drive up standards in rented accommodation. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders from across the sector to inform this work and we will publish a White Paper in due course that will set out proposals for private rented sector reform.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of people in rent arrears, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) gender, as of 26 October 2021.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The full breakdown of those in arrears with rent payments is provided in Table T15, including Table T15h, which details whether private renters are in arrears with rent payments by ethnicity. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3 in ‘Household Resilience Study: Wave 3 tables’.
To help support the most vulnerable renters, the Government has recently made available the £500 million Household Support Fund and £65 million in additional Homelessness Prevention Grant funding.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
Whether it is his policy that Local Nature Recovery Strategies should be given consideration by local authorities in all planning decisions.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Environment Bill currently before Parliament provides for a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities to have regard to the conservation of biodiversity. This strengthened duty includes a requirement to have regard to relevant Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
Our planning reforms will reinforce the implementation of these measures, to capitalise on the potential of Local Nature Recovery Strategies and biodiversity net gain as we seek to make the system clearer and more positive.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 is taking to ensure adequate funding for the statutory duties in the Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure local authorities can provide support and protection to those experiencing domestic abuse and their children.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Following the outcome of Spending Review, £125 million funding will be allocated to local authorities, to cover costs of the new duty to provide support in safe accommodation for 2021-22.
MHCLG has also provided £6 million to support relevant local authorities to undertake early planning and preparation work so they are ready to implement the new duty.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 it his policy to allocate funding to local authorities to (a) meet losses in income from rents and other commercial payments and (b) reimburse losses arising from outsourced leisure contracts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 2 July, the Government announced a co-payment scheme?to compensate?local councils?for?relevant,?unforeseen sales, fees and charges?losses?that are irrecoverable. Councils?will absorb the first 5 per cent of all?relevant,?irrecoverable?losses?compared to?budgets,?with government?compensating?councils?for 75p in every pound?of loss?thereafter.
This scheme is designed to compensate for transactional income losses that are truly irrecoverable. This will include transactional income from customer and client receipts which are generated from the delivery of goods and services and which were budgeted for in 2020/21, including leisure centres, but excluding rents and commercial investment income.
Commercial income losses are more complicated in nature, and the Government recognises that there are a complex set of variables relating to commercial income sources including recoverability.
We are also aware of instances where councils are currently experiencing cost pressures by supporting local services, such as leisure, which are delivered through contracted arrangements. We will continue to work with DCMS and councils over the coming weeks to ensure they are managing as the pandemic progresses. ?The Government stands ready to support any local authority with particular financial concerns.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of enforcement of standards in the private rented sector by local authorities.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not currently collect data from local authorities on enforcement of standards.
MHCLG publishes the English Housing Survey annually which collects information about people’s housing circumstances and housing conditions in England. The Department has seen the proportion of private rented homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard fall from 37 per cent in 2010 to 25 per cent in 2018.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national registration scheme for privately rented properties in England to enable a better enforcement of energy efficiency minimum standards.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector are backed up by strong enforcement powers for local authorities, including heavy fines. Recognising the importance of these standards, the Government is considering a range of measures to improve enforcement, striking the right balance between focusing on supporting good landlords and tackling those who wilfully flout their obligations.
In April 2018, using powers under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, we introduced a national database of rogue landlords and letting agents. We are committed to broadening access to this database when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What steps the Government is taking to tackle the risk of local authorities becoming insolvent as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We recognise the additional costs and pressures councils are facing as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. We have made £3.7 billion available to councils through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address these pressures. We will continue to work with local government to ensure they are managing as the pandemic progresses.