Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
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 support leaseholders living in buildings below 11 metres in height with fire remediation costs.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The responsibility for the costs of fixing historical building safety defects should rest with building owners. They should not pass these costs on to leaseholders but should seek to recover costs from those who were responsible for building unsafe homes.
We have undertaken extensive work over the last two years to review buildings under 11 metres which have been reported to us as having potential building safety issues. Almost all have proven not to need any intervention following detailed review.
In rare cases where remediation work is required in buildings under 11 metres, the Government has retrospectively extended the limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 enabling legal action against developers and contractors where works completed in the last 30 years made a dwelling not “fit for habitation”.
These rights include:
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
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 support people affected by safety defects in buildings that were built in the last 30 years and are under 11 metres in height.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has implemented a risk-based and proportionate approach to regulating safety in residential buildings and in remediating cladding and other building safety defects. In general, the risk to life in lower-rise buildings is low and can be mitigated, for example, by installing fire alarms.
We are aware of a very small number of buildings under 11 metres where expensive remediation is proposed. We have written to freeholders and managing agents in affected buildings to make sure that any proposed works are necessary and proportionate and the rights to redress are being fully utilised.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to make letting and managing agents subject to the same regulation as sales agents.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is already a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England and Wales, and residential sales (estate) agents in the UK, to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.
The Government is considering the recommendations in the final report on the regulation of property agents from Lord Best's working group. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice, including in relation to codes of practice. Announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to introduce a right to appeal for (a) leaseholders and (b) freeholders in relation to disputes with a management agency.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and making sure that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
By law, variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the appropriate tribunal to challenge the reasonableness of their service charges. We are committed to better protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on what their costs pay for, and removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong.
For those homeowners living on freehold estates, we are also committed to making the management companies more accountable to their freeholders.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this parliament.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
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 management companies provide a minimum service level for leaseholders and freeholders.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and making sure that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
By law, variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the appropriate tribunal to challenge the reasonableness of their service charges. We are committed to better protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on what their costs pay for, and removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong.
For those homeowners living on freehold estates, we are also committed to making the management companies more accountable to their freeholders.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this parliament.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
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 regulate service charges by management agencies on leaseholders and freeholders.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and making sure that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
By law, variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the appropriate tribunal to challenge the reasonableness of their service charges. We are committed to better protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on what their costs pay for, and removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong.
For those homeowners living on freehold estates, we are also committed to making the management companies more accountable to their freeholders.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this parliament.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will introduce a single, mandatory, legally enforceable code of practice for property agents.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is already a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England and Wales, and residential sales (estate) agents in the UK, to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.
The Government is considering the recommendations in the final report on the regulation of property agents from Lord Best's working group. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice, including in relation to codes of practice. Announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to protect existing leaseholders from increasing service charges.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, they must be of a reasonable standard.
Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.
Where disputes arise or there is uncertainty over costs, leaseholders may benefit from seeking free initial advice via the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), the specialist advisory body funded by?the Department to?provide assistance to?leaseholders.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of residential sales currently unable to proceed as a result of the lack of an EWS1 certificate.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The EWS1 form was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to assist in valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Each lender has their own policies regarding valuation requirements. Some do not require an EWS1 form, and other seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. Where requested the EWS1 assessments are commissioned by individual building owners and so the Department does not hold data on their use. The Department is working to estimate the potential impact of these requests on leaseholders and sales, and is urging a pragmatic approach by lenders and valuers, especially for lower rise blocks.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with mortgage lenders to ensure industry-wide consistency in only requiring an EWS1 certificate for properties over 18 metres in height.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
To support the valuation process for high-rise residential blocks, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors designed the EWS1 process. This is not a regulatory requirement and my Department is urging a more pragmatic approach, especially for lower rise blocks. The form should only be used where there is clear need, and where no reasonable assurances or regulatory evidence exists to support valuations. The Building Safety Minister has met with lenders and UK Finance on a number of occasions and will meet with them this month to seek assurance on progress.