Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 ensure properties in the private student rental sector meet a habitable standard.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has taken significant action over the past decade to protect all tenants, including students. We have improved standards by requiring landlords to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as conduct electrical safety checks.
The Government published a White Paper on 16 June 2022 setting out our plans to reform the private rented sector.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what protections his Department has implemented for students in the private renting market.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has taken significant action over the past decade to protect all tenants, including students. This includes capping tenancy deposits at five weeks' rent and preventing landlords and agents from charging undue or excess letting fees. We have also improved standards by requiring landlords to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as well as conduct electrical safety checks.
The Government published a White Paper on 16 June 2022 setting out our plans to reform the private rented sector and level up housing across the country. Our reforms will provide more secure and high-quality homes and create a stable rental market for landlords to remain and invest. We know that some landlords are concerned about how the new tenancy system will work for students, and we are considering how we can best support the student lettings market.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 ensure that students are not exploited in the private renting market.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has taken significant action over the past decade to protect all tenants, including students. This includes capping tenancy deposits at five weeks' rent and preventing landlords and agents from charging undue or excess letting fees. We have also improved standards by requiring landlords to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as well as conduct electrical safety checks.
The Government published a White Paper on 16 June 2022 setting out our plans to reform the private rented sector and level up housing across the country. Our reforms will provide more secure and high-quality homes and create a stable rental market for landlords to remain and invest. We know that some landlords are concerned about how the new tenancy system will work for students, and we are considering how we can best support the student lettings market.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help support students in full-time higher education with increased private rental costs.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen as a result of global events this year and that have impacted students. Many higher education (HE) providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance.
To support disadvantaged students and those who need additional help, the department confirmed in guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) on funding for the 2022/23 financial year that universities will continue to be able to support students in hardship through their own hardship funds and the student premium, for which up to £261 million is available for academic year 2022/23.
Maximum loans for living costs and grants have been increased this academic year, 2022/23. The government is reviewing options for uprating maximum loans and grants for the 2023/24 academic year. An announcement will follow in due course.
In addition, maximum tuition fees have been capped at £9,250 for the 2022/23 academic year, in respect of standard full-time courses. The department is also freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
As part of the package of support for rising energy bills, the government is also giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls or in property that is not considered a House in Multiple Occupation for council tax purposes.
All households will save money on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee. This is in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all households. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount.
The Energy Prices Bill introduced on 12 October includes the provision to require landlords to pass benefits they receive from energy price support, as appropriate, onto end users. Further details of the requirements under this legislation will be set out in regulations.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to bring forward the legislative proposals contained in the white paper entitled A Fairer Private Rented Sector, published in June 2022.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone deserves to live in a safe and secure home, and the Government has repeated its commitment to the ban on section 21 no-fault evictions to protect tenants. Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for the Government. We intend to legislate in this parliament.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions his Department has held with stakeholders in the student accommodation sector on the proposals in the White Paper: A fairer private rented sector.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2019 the Government published the consultation - 'A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants'. This sought views on how the new tenancy system should operate, including student housing. The Department has built on the feedback received from the consultation through extensive and detailed stakeholder engagement, which fed into the proposals outlined in the White Paper - 'A Fairer Private Rented Sector'.
Since the publication of the White Paper, the Department has continued to engage with student accommodation stakeholders, and we are considering how to best support the rental market.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make provision for students in the private rented sector to continue to rent on a fixed-term basis that covers their academic year, as part of the proposed renters reform bill.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We expect most students will continue to move in-line with the academic year. However, the proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to. It will also mean that students are not locked into contracts when their circumstances change or if property standards are poor.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to ensure that students in houses in multiple occupation will continue to have access to fixed-term, rather than periodic, tenancies in the provisions of the forthcoming Renters Reform Bill.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government’s commitment to abolish section 21 evictions and move to periodic tenancies will mean tenants enjoy greater security and feel empowered to challenge poor practice and unreasonable rent rises. We want as many tenants as possible to benefit from these reforms, including students living in the private rented sector.
We expect most students will continue to move in-line with the academic year. However, the proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to. It will also mean that students are not locked into contracts when their circumstances change or if property standards are poor.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 impact of the proposals to abolish no-fault section 21 evictions on landlords of student accommodation that is not classified as purpose-built student accommodation.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government's commitment to abolish section 21 evictions and move to periodic tenancies will mean tenants enjoy greater security and feel empowered to challenge poor practice and unreasonable rent rises. We want as many tenants as possible to benefit from these reforms, including students living in the private rented sector.
In July 2019, the Department published a consultation - 'A New Deal for Renting', on the implications of removing assured shorthold tenancies, which included a question on student accommodation. 19,697 consultation responses in total were received from a range of individuals and organisations. Since then, the department has used consultation feedback and extensive stakeholder engagement to understand the impact of proposals of the Renters Reform Bill, including on the availability and supply of student accommodation in the private rented sector.
We expect most students will continue to move in-line with the academic year. However, the proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to. It will also mean that students are not locked into contracts when their circumstances change or if property standards are poor.
We will continue to consider the impact of our reforms as we move towards legislation and will publish a full impact assessment in due course.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposals in the Renters Reform Bill on the availability and supply of student accommodation in the private rented sector.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has used consultation feedback and extensive stakeholder engagement to understand the impact of proposals of the Renters Reform Bill on the availability and supply of student accommodation in the private rented sector.
The proposed reforms will support student households who have children or local roots to remain in their properties after studying if they wish to, whilst students living in privately-run purpose-built student accommodation will be governed by the same rules as those in university-owned accommodation, given the specific purpose of this housing.
We will continue to consider the impact of our reforms as we move towards legislation and will publish a full impact assessment in due course.