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 steps his Department is taking to secure contributions towards the costs of building safety remediation from (a) cladding manufacturers, (b) insulation manufacturers, (c) fire door manufacturers, (d) architects, (e) building contractors, (f) building control organisations and (g) warranty providers.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Hon Gentleman to the oral statement made in the House of Commons on 26th March 2024 (Official Report HC, Volume 747, Column 1414).
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
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 Second Report of the House of Lords Conduct Committee of Session 2023-2024 on The conduct of Lord Mann, HL95, published on 27 March 2024, what discussions he has had with the Antisemitism Policy Trust on the use of staff funded by his Department for non-Departmental work.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Government regularly engages with the Trust among a range of other stakeholders to understand and respond to antisemitism.
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, how many homes were built in Suffolk Coastal constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We are taking significant steps to address the challenges to increasing housing supply around the country, including in Suffolk. We recognise the scale of challenges facing the housebuilding sector in the current macro-economic climate. Against this challenging backdrop, we have invested billions in housing since the start of this Parliament. This investment will support bringing forward land for development, enabling the market to deliver the homes and infrastructure that communities need, and support increasing local authority planning capacity.
We have also taken significant measures through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, and National Planning Policy Framework, to reform the planning system. These measures aim to reduce planning delays, bureaucracy, slow build-out rates, and wider barriers to growth and development.
We want decisions about homes to be driven locally and we want to get more local plans in place to deliver the homes we need. This is why we have revised the National Planning Policy Framework (published 19 December 2023) to be clearer about the importance of planning for homes and other development that our communities need.
The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply, with estimates of new homes delivered in each local authority, including East Suffolk, in each financial year since 2001-02, shown in Live Table 122 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing.
Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.
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 steps his Department is taking to help increase the availability of homes in Suffolk.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We are taking significant steps to address the challenges to increasing housing supply around the country, including in Suffolk. We recognise the scale of challenges facing the housebuilding sector in the current macro-economic climate. Against this challenging backdrop, we have invested billions in housing since the start of this Parliament. This investment will support bringing forward land for development, enabling the market to deliver the homes and infrastructure that communities need, and support increasing local authority planning capacity.
We have also taken significant measures through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, and National Planning Policy Framework, to reform the planning system. These measures aim to reduce planning delays, bureaucracy, slow build-out rates, and wider barriers to growth and development.
We want decisions about homes to be driven locally and we want to get more local plans in place to deliver the homes we need. This is why we have revised the National Planning Policy Framework (published 19 December 2023) to be clearer about the importance of planning for homes and other development that our communities need.
The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply, with estimates of new homes delivered in each local authority, including East Suffolk, in each financial year since 2001-02, shown in Live Table 122 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing.
Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to receive a Building Assessment Certificate.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
At the beginning of April, the Building Safety Regulator started directing Principal Accountable Persons to apply for their Building Safety Assessment Certificate. We will monitor this process carefully. The Department is happy to receive further information about specific cases.
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, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on incorporating connectivity measures into National Development Management Policies.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Work is underway to prepare National Development Management Policies, and officials will be working with their counterparts in other departments where they have an interest, including the Department for Transport. We are aware that access to services is an area that a number of departments have an interest in. We intend to consult fully on both the scope and content of the policies before any are put in place.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to encourage property developers to incorporate net zero measures in planning applications.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Honourable Member to paragraph 157 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase levels of home ownership.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has a range of schemes available to help improve access to home ownership, including First Homes, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and the Lifetime ISA. We have also doubled the threshold for Stamp Duty and expanded First Time Buyers Relief.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 strength of the Union.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Union is strong. The United Kingdom is one of the world’s most successful political and economic unions. When we work together as one United Kingdom, we are safer, stronger and more prosperous.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much levelling up funding his Department has allocated to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
BCP Council have received a variety of levelling up support since 2019, including through some specific awards such as: