Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) local authorities in Wales on the operation of the Shared Prosperity Fund after March 2025.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2025 are ultimately a matter for the next Spending Review. We nevertheless appreciate the case for certainty and are committed to setting out further detail at the earliest opportunity.
Officials are in regular communication with all local authorities in Wales on this issue, as well as with the Welsh Local Government Association. We will work closely with the Welsh Government on the future of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 estimate of the number and proportion of people under the age of 40 who (a) lived in private rented accommodation and (b) had a mortgage in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The English Housing Survey publishes data on tenure by age of household.
The most recently published survey is: English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: headline report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The relevant data is in Annex Table 1.3: “Demographic and economic characteristics”
Housing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of empty residential properties in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure empty residential properties do not fall into disrepair.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 24519 on 10 May 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 developing a long-term strategy to manage and remediate properties built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete that are now deemed unsafe.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 local authorities on (a) inspecting and (b) reporting on the structural safety of buildings constructed with RAAC.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
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, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of support for residents ordered to leave their flats because of (a) structural and (b) fire risks.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19948 on 28 March 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 homeowners that have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislation to approve the Law Commission's draft code on event fees under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We have committed to making event fees in leasehold retirement properties fairer and more transparent. We intend to bring forward legislation, as soon as Parliamentary time allows, to introduce a Code of Practice for event fees.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 increase protections for house purchase expenses prior to exchange of contracts.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Announcements will be made in the usual way.
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 his Department's statistics entitled Statutory homelessness in England: October to December 2023, published on 30 April 2024, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help prevent more households being forced into temporary accommodation and (b) financially support local authorities facing an increase demand for temporary accomodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We are investing over £1.2 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years to help councils prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation, including a £109 million top-up announced at Autumn Statement for 2024/25.
The Local Authority Housing Fund enables councils in England to buy or build housing stock to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. We recently announced a third round of funding, bringing the total funding to £1.2 billion.