Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support his Department is providing to leaseholders in Battersea who are facing service charges increases.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to introduce legislation to create a regulator for service charges.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable housing properties built by developers; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage more affordable housing to be built.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes, both for rent and to buy, right across the country.
The Levelling Up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes, and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.
The government is on track to deliver its target of building around 250,000 affordable homes through the Affordable Homes Programme.
Local planning authorities can secure addition contributions towards affordable housing through section 106 planning obligations.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act contains powers for the Government to create a new mandatory, non-negotiable Infrastructure Levy which will aim to generate more funding for affordable housing and infra-structure to support sustainable development.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 to mortgage lenders to help ensure their compliance with RICS guidance on the requirement for EWS1 certificates.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The External Wall System Review form (EWS1) is not a statutory requirement or government process. It is an industry tool to inform mortgage valuation. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have issued guidance on the use and application of EWS1 forms.
Following the Department’s work in this area, a number of mortgage lenders have joined a voluntary commitment to offer mortgages on properties affected by building safety issues. This means that around three quarters of mortgage lending is now covered by this commitment, which commits lenders to consider mortgage applications for properties in buildings that are yet to be remediated, or where leaseholders are protected from remediation costs.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 tackle high services charges for leaseholders in Battersea.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to bring forward an amendment to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill to ban forfeiture.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 levels of mortgage lenders compliance with the latest RICS guidance.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The External Wall System Review form (EWS1) is not a statutory requirement or government process. It is an industry tool to inform mortgage valuation. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have issued guidance on the use and application of EWS1 forms.
Following the Department’s work in this area, a number of mortgage lenders have joined a voluntary commitment to offer mortgages on properties affected by building safety issues. This means that around three quarters of mortgage lending is now covered by this commitment, which commits lenders to consider mortgage applications for properties in buildings that are yet to be remediated, or where leaseholders are protected from remediation costs.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to compensate (a) institutional investors and (b) pension-holders for loss of income as a result of his Department’s proposed cap on ground rents.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government recently consulted on a range of options to restrict ground rents for existing leases. Alongside the consultation we published a consultation impact assessment, assessing the expected costs and benefits of each of the policy options. This can be found here: Consultation impact assessment - modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK.
We are carefully considering the responses we have received and will set out next steps due course.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether it remains his policy to introduce a cap on ground rents to a peppercorn value.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government recently consulted on a range of options to restrict ground rents for existing leases. Alongside the consultation we published a consultation impact assessment, assessing the expected costs and benefits of each of the policy options. This can be found here: Consultation impact assessment - modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK.
We are carefully considering the responses we have received and will set out next steps due course.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of capping ground rents on leasehold homes at nominal rates.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government recently consulted on a range of options to restrict ground rents for existing leases. Alongside the consultation we published a consultation impact assessment, assessing the expected costs and benefits of each of the policy options. This can be found here: Consultation impact assessment - modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK.
We are carefully considering the responses we have received and will set out next steps due course.