Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to structure the post-Brexit Shared Prosperity Fund; when it will become operative; what criteria will be used for the allocation of funds; and whether it will permit funds allocated for the devolved authorities to be allocated by them.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will be a domestic programme of investment to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the whole of the UK following our departure from the European Union. The fund will be aligned to the pillars of the modern industrial strategy.
We have committed to launching a full public consultation on the design and priorities of the fund this year, as announced in the Industrial Strategy white paper. Decisions on the operation of the UKSPF will be made following the consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their decision to require landlords to be part of a redress scheme will include long-lease landlords, as well as management companies and those charging a fee for the administration of a long lease or freehold management scheme.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Secretary of State recently announced a package of measures to better protect tenants including that all letting agents will have to register with an appropriate organisation, and that all landlords will have to be part of a redress scheme. This will give landlords and tenants confidence that their agent is meeting minimum standards.
On 18 October, my Department published a call for evidence seeking views on the regulation of letting and managing agents in the private rented and leasehold sectors. It includes questions on the scope and objectives of any regulation, including the types of services that should be included and classes of people or property professionals who should be covered by any regulator.
The call for evidence closes on 29 November and an announcement will be made in due course .
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of commitments set out in the Housing White Paper and the Queen's Speech, when the call for evidence on the home moving process will be launched.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Call for Evidence on improving the home buying and selling process was published on 22 October.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to take action in regard to leaseholders being charged escalating ground rents, and to ensure that freehold means holding property free of unfair practices.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government’s consultation, Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why. The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government response in due course.
On the 18 October the Government announced a call for evidence on regulating letting agents and managing agents. This is to help improve the sector’s professionalism and address problems in the property management industry, drive down costs and protect consumers from the small minority of rogue agents. The call for evidence closes on 29 November 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their proposals to regulate letting agents, announced by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 1 October, will include management companies involved in the administration of long leases.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Secretary of State recently announced a package of measures better to protect tenants, including the requirement that all lettings agents will have to register with an appropriate organisation. This will give landlords and tenants confidence that their agent is meeting minimum standards.
On 18 October, we published a call for evidence seeking views on the regulation of letting and managing agents in the private rented and leasehold sectors. The call for evidence closes on 29 November and we will develop proposals taking into account the evidence received.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 31 October (HL2374) that they have made no estimate of the economic and environmental costs of fires in domestic buildings, and in the light of the Grenfell Tower fire, whether they will now estimate these costs.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
There will be wide ranging reviews of the wider issues emerging from the Grenfell Tower fire, including a public inquiry.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 31 October 2016 (HL2373) which stated that, since the last full review of Part B (Fire safety) of the Building Regulations for England in 2006 an impact assessment of subsequent changes to the governance has only been conducted in 2013, whether they will consider the economic and societal impacts of fire when drafting the fire safety provisions of the Building Regulations (Approved document B), given that the Building Act 1984 and the Sustainable and Secure Building Act 2004 allow for regulations covering the design, construction and fittings of buildings to include the health, safety and welfare of persons in the building.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Changes to the Building Regulations or associated Approved Documents are accompanied by an impact assessment as a matter of course. Including assessment of economic and where relevant, social cost and benefits.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of The EU's Impact on the UK Housing and Construction Industry, produced for the Red Tape Initiative in May 2016, in particular the comment that the Construction Products Regulation (EU 305/2011) is some "red tape folly" which is "expensive and burdensome for small businesses"; and what assessment they have made of the continued validity of that regulation, which aims to harmonise the quality of construction materials across the EU, including external cladding, to make sure that those materials are safe and fit to use.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
No assessment has been made of this report.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make membership of a Client Money Protection Scheme mandatory for letting and managing agents.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government encourages letting and management agents to join Client Money Protection schemes and encourages landlords and tenants to choose agents with Client Money Protection via the Safe Agent Kite Mark. Ministers are reviewing the report of the working group chaired by Baroness Hayter and Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, which considers the available evidence of Client Money Protection in the market today and provides recommendations on whether Client Money Protection should be made mandatory. Ministers will respond to this report setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they considered the economic, societal and environmental impacts of fire when producing the Approved Document B (fire safety) regulations; and if not why not; and whether they consider that the Building Act 1984 and the Sustainable and Secure Building Act 2004 provide that the purposes for which regulations may be made for the design, construction, servicing and fittings of buildings should include such impacts.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The government has not made such an estimate. Such estimates are made, only where necessary, to assist in the assessment of specific policy proposals.
Part B (Fire safety) of the Building Regulations for England was last subjected to a major review in 2006. Since then the guidance has been subject to minor amendments in 2007, 2010 and 2013. Where substantive changes were made, in 2006 and 2013, the government of the day issued an impact assessment which set out the matters that were considered at the time. These documents ( attached) are available in the library of the house and available on the internet at;