Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department or the predecessor Department has issued on registration on the electoral roll when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission, as the independent electoral regulator, holds responsibility for issuance of guidance on electoral registration, voting and second homes.
This can be found at: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/who-can-vote/other-registration-options/voting-and-second-homes.
A person is entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency - or in the case of local elections, as a local government elector for an electoral area - if on the date they submit their application they meet the criteria for registration.
Those criteria include a requirement (except, regarding Parliamentary elections, in respect of a British citizen living overseas) that the applicant is resident in the constituency or electoral area. It is for the Electoral Registration Officer to determine whether the applicant meets this residency requirement by reference to the factors set out in section 5 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (and in some cases sections 6 to 7C of that Act also). Ownership of a property is not sufficient on its own, the ERO must determine that an individual is resident. Case law suggests this will involve a degree of permanence.
This means that some citizens are entitled to register to vote in respect of more than one address in certain circumstances.
However, it may be noted that it is a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote more than once in the same constituency at a parliamentary election or in the same electoral division or ward at a local government election. It is also a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote in more than one constituency at a parliamentary general election, or in more than once electoral division or ward at an ordinary election of councillors for county, London Borough or district.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the percentage change in the average selling price of properties since 14 June 2017 of (a) flats affected by cladding and building safety defects and (b) flats not affected by cladding and building safety defects.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As of 18 December 2023, nine major mortgage lenders have signed a joined statement confirming they will lend on properties in buildings before they have been remediated. We will continue working with industry to monitor these changes and hold lenders to their commitments.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Fifth Report of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Report of Session 2024/25 on Shared Ownership, HC 61, published on 28 March 2024, what information his Department holds on transactions by registered providers to buy back shares from shared ownership leaseholders due to building remediation issues.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department is considering the report by the Committee and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued on claiming single person discount on council tax when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
My department has published a ‘Plain English Guide to Council Tax’ setting out the discounts and support available in the council tax system. This guide is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/paying-the-right-level-of-council-tax-a-plain-english-guide-to-council-tax.
As set out in local government finance law, a full council tax bill is payable if there are two or more adults living in a dwelling. If there is only one adult (other than disregarded individuals – e.g. full-time students), and it is their sole or main residence, the individual can claim the single person discount of 25% on their council tax bill. A second or empty home would not be eligible for this discount.
Further guidance has been published given by the Valuation Tribunal Service’s ‘Council Tax Manual’, which is available at: https://valuationtribunal.gov.uk/guidance-booklets/.
The manual includes guidance on single person discount, and the tests of a sole or main residence. For example, the Manual cites the case law of Cox v London South West Valuation Tribunal HC (RVR 1994 171). They observe: “the taxpayer spent time at two dwellings. The High Court concluded that the sole or main residence was the home where the wife and family resided.”
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, how many building owners his Department has identified in the reducing core of building owners who continue to hold up remediation; and how many buildings such owners own.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We track the progress of buildings and make this publicly available here: Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - February 2024 - GOV.UK.
We have also made public the corporate entities responsible for the remaining buildings with the most dangerous cladding that have yet to start on site at: Aluminium composite material cladding - GOV.UK , and update this list periodically.
It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. As I reiterated to the house on 26th March, and in a joint statement with building safety bodies, where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, whether his Department plans to publish a list of building owners who continue to hold up remediation.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We track the progress of buildings and make this publicly available here: Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - February 2024 - GOV.UK.
We have also made public the corporate entities responsible for the remaining buildings with the most dangerous cladding that have yet to start on site at: Aluminium composite material cladding - GOV.UK , and update this list periodically.
It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. As I reiterated to the house on 26th March, and in a joint statement with building safety bodies, where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many staff working on Levelling Up have left his Department since its creation.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Table 42 in the annual Civil Service statistics includes information on the number of leavers for the period in question and this information can be found at the following link for the years in question: Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of its plans to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge on the water bills of Anglian Water customers in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of Greater Cambridge in a sustainable way, supporting its economic potential, protecting and enhancing the quality of life for residents, habitats and the environment.
At Spring Budget 2024, the government published a policy paper setting out its ambition to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge. Customer water bills are set every five years by Ofwat through its ‘price review’ process which includes controlling the prices that companies can charge customers whilst allowing companies to finance improvements to their infrastructure.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 19958 on Flats: Fire Prevention, if he will make it his policy to commit to quality assurance measures equivalent to the Self Remediation Terms including a post-remediation Qualifying Assessment.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As the answer provided on 2 April indicates, only three buildings under 11m have been found to require some form of remediation to date. The Department expects the developers of any unsafe buildings under 11m to take responsibility for remediating them in accordance with the appropriate standard and deal with the risks identified in the Fire Risk Assessment and Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls as soon as reasonably practicable.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department have made an assessment of the impact of the local government finance settlement on Havering Council.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country.
For Havering Council, this Settlement represents an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £15.82 million (7.2%) – making available a total of up to £236.4 million in 2024-25. We have also published details of support agreed with a small number of councils, including Havering Council, that have requested financial support on an exceptional basis due to specific local issues that they are unable to manage themselves.