Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of home ownership since 2010.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Data on home ownership rates can be found on the Department's website. See AT 1.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676433/2016-17_Section_1_Households_Annex_Tables.xlsx
and the latest dwelling stock statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwelling-stock-estimates-in-england-2017
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps has he taken to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping in the West Midlands.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The latest statistics on homelessness and rough sleeping in England are published and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping
At Budget the Chancellor announced 28 million pounds of funding to pilot the Housing First approach for the country’s most entrenched rough sleepers. The pilots will cover the West Midlands Combined Authority, Greater Manchester, and the Liverpool City Region.
The exact allocation to the areas will be subject to on-going work with the regions and refinement of the scope of the pilots. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are in regular contact with officials in the West Midlands and will continue to work closely with them going forward.
The recently established Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel, of which Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands is a member, will support the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce to develop a cross-government strategy to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and to eliminate it altogether by 2027.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, what estimate of he has made of the number of (a) homeless people and (b) rough sleepers in the West Midlands, in each of the last three years.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The latest statistics on homelessness and rough sleeping in England are published and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping
At Budget the Chancellor announced 28 million pounds of funding to pilot the Housing First approach for the country’s most entrenched rough sleepers. The pilots will cover the West Midlands Combined Authority, Greater Manchester, and the Liverpool City Region.
The exact allocation to the areas will be subject to on-going work with the regions and refinement of the scope of the pilots. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are in regular contact with officials in the West Midlands and will continue to work closely with them going forward.
The recently established Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel, of which Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands is a member, will support the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce to develop a cross-government strategy to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and to eliminate it altogether by 2027.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that social care funding is available for people with a learning disability at the same level as that for elderly people.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Local government has autonomy to determine how best to manage its own finances to ensure it delivers the appropriate level of services for its residents whether that is for people with learning disabilities or elderly people receiving social care.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Urban Growth Company takes account of the potential contribution of Birmingham Airport to UK trade.
Answered by Andrew Percy
This Government is working with all areas with HS2 stations in order that they maximise the opportunity for growth. This includes Solihull, which will benefit from a new interchange station close to Birmingham Airport. In order that the area can deliver key projects that will underpin local growth, Solihull Council has established the Urban Growth Company. The growth company aims to deliver 35,000 jobs, 3,500 homes and an increase in GVA of £1 billion.
The Urban Growth Company is now preparing a Growth and Infrastructure Plan which includes growth opportunities associated with Jaguar Land Rover, Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre and the proposed HS2 station. This plan is being developed with local stakeholders, including Birmingham Airport. This work will inform the current review of the Solihull Local Plan, and any proposals will be subject to the normal planning process.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will designate airfields as greenfield sites.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
National planning policy already requires local planning authorities to take account of airfields’ growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. In March we issued guidance emphasising the need for local planning authorities to have regard to the extent to which an aerodrome contributes to connectivity outside the authority’s own boundaries.
Currently, all airfields, as land that has been previously developed, are regarded as brownfield land.
We will work with the aviation sector to ensure the current policy relating to development on airfields is better understood.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of airfields on land designated as brownfield sites.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
National planning policy already requires local planning authorities to take account of airfields’ growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. In March we issued guidance emphasising the need for local planning authorities to have regard to the extent to which an aerodrome contributes to connectivity outside the authority’s own boundaries.
Currently, all airfields, as land that has been previously developed, are regarded as brownfield land.
We will work with the aviation sector to ensure the current policy relating to development on airfields is better understood.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce further proposals to protect airfields from redevelopment.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
National planning policy already requires local planning authorities to take account of airfields’ growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. In March we issued guidance emphasising the need for local planning authorities to have regard to the extent to which an aerodrome contributes to connectivity outside the authority’s own boundaries.
Currently, all airfields, as land that has been previously developed, are regarded as brownfield land.
We will work with the aviation sector to ensure the current policy relating to development on airfields is better understood.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what advice his Department issues to local authorities on advising private rented sector tenants subject to court orders for possession on the steps they should take to find accommodation.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The statutory Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities includes advice and guidance to authorities on the actions they can take to prevent homelessness where a person is at risk of eviction from a property. This includes negotiation with landlords or with help to address rent arrears for example. It also explains how authorities should carry out their homelessness duties where eviction takes place.
We have also introduced protections for tenants against “retaliatory eviction”. Where a tenant makes a genuine complaint about the condition of their property that has not been addressed by their landlord, their complaint has been verified by a local authority inspection, and the local authority has served either an improvement notice or a notice of emergency remedial action, a landlord cannot evict that tenant for 6 months using the ‘no-fault’ eviction procedure (a section 21 eviction). A ‘no fault’ eviction is one where the tenant does not have to have done anything wrong, for example not paying the rent, to be asked to leave. The landlord is also required to ensure that the repairs are completed. These rules, set out in the Deregulation Act 2015, apply to all new assured shorthold tenancies that start on or after 1 October 2015. A guidance note is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465275/Retaliatory_Eviction_Guidance_Note.pdf
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support private landlords in evicting tenants who are in breach of contract.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Assured shorthold tenancies give landlords the automatic right to possession at the end of the initial fixed term on giving the tenant two months' notice. Possession through the courts can also be sought before the end of the initial fixed period, where the tenant has broken certain terms of the tenancy, such as by not paying the rent.
We have made it easier for landlords to evict a tenant where it would be legitimate to do so, by introducing a prescribed form of notice which will reduce errors and remove the need for a landlord to specify the exact date a tenancy comes to an end, while retaining the requirement to give two months’ notice. The legislation came into effect on 1 October 2015 and we have published guidance and the required forms are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465275/Retaliatory_Eviction_Guidance_Note.pdf