Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of ending the freeze in Local Housing Allowance rates before April 2024.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As announced by the Chancellor in the recent Autumn Statement, the Government will be investing £1.2 billion in 24/25 increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This is a significant investment of over £7 billion over the next five years.
Secondary legislation is required for this increase, which will be laid in January and will come into force by 31st January 2024. This allows the Department for Work and Pensions and local authorities sufficient time to implement the rates from April 2024 and ensure claimants are paid accurately. Increases to other benefits also apply from April 2024 onwards.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion in DHP funding to local authorities.
Since October 2021, Government has provided over £2 billion to local authorities in England via the Household Support Fund (HSF) for them to provide discretionary support with the cost of essentials to those most in need. As with all government spending in England, the HSF has led to consequential increases in Barnett funding, which the Devolved Administrations can spend at their discretion.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the issue of damp and mould in homes with children in (1) the social rented sector, and (2) the private rented sector.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Damp and mould can have a serious impact on children’s health and it is unacceptable for anyone to have to live in such conditions.
All rented homes must be free of serious ‘category 1’ hazards, including damp and mould, as defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. In the social rented sector homes must also meet the Decent Homes Standard. We have recently tabled amendments to the Renters (Reform) Bill to extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time. We are exploring the merits of a standalone damp and mould standard within the Decent Homes Standard that all landlord must meet, to ensure that landlords are clear on their obligations to tenants.
Following the tragic and avoidable death of Awaab Ishak, the Government has also introduced Awaab’s Law in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. Awaab’s Law will require social landlords to comply with new requirements regarding timeframes for investigating and repairing hazards, including damp and mould.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the empty homes premium since its introduction in 2013, with reference to the Local Government Association’s findings of 13 November that empty homes in England have risen by nearly 10 per cent in the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The judgement on whether to apply the empty homes premium, and the level of premium, rests with local councils. Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, the Government has provided further flexibility to councils by enabling councils to apply a premium after a property has been empty for twelve months, rather than the current two years.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in driving decarbonisation in the social housing sector.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 1 and 2.1 aim to install energy efficiency measures in up to 20,000 and 90,000 homes respectively. The latest statistics capturing progress across the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) are published on GOV.UK.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) commissioned an independent evaluation of the implementation, effectiveness and value for money of the SHDF Demonstrator. Final findings will be published in due course.
DESNZ has also commissioned evaluation reports for SHDF Wave 1 and 2.1. The first interim report will be published later in financial year 2024/25.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the National Audit Office’s report Investigation into the Homes for Ukraine scheme, published on 17 October, what steps they are taking to improve and expand data on homelessness among Ukrainian refugees who have been part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, given that local authority data returns on scheme homelessness are voluntary.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any potential benefits of extending Homes for Ukraine visas beyond three years.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In line with the situation in Ukraine, working closely with the Ukrainian Government, as well as our international counterparts, we keep the need for a possible extension of UK sanctuary, beyond March 2025, under consistent review.
The UK Government stands with Ukraine and firmly believes that Ukraine will be safe again. When it’s safe to do so, Ukraine will need the repatriation of its citizens to help recover and rebuild their economy and infrastructure. Our approach therefore has been to provide 36 months sanctuary under our Ukraine visas which are temporary and do not lead to settlement.
We are, however, also mindful that permission will start to expire, for the first arrivals under our Ukrainian schemes, from March 2025, and their need for certainty beyond that point to help them to plan ahead, for example if remaining in the UK, entering into rental agreements and living here independently.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) their rough sleeping strategy, End Rough Sleeping for Good, and (2) their Rough Sleeping Initiative one year after its launch.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In September 2022, we published our new cross-government strategy ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’, setting out how we are investing £2 billion over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. As per our commitment in the rough sleeping strategy, our external Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel, made up of experts across the sector, are supporting government to assess our progress and how we are achieving the commitments in the strategy and to identify any gaps.
The published, independently peer reviewed Rough Sleeping Initiative impact evaluation, found that the Rough Sleeping Initiative produced a net reduction of 32% in rough sleeping in 2018 compared to areas with no Rough Sleeping Initiative funding. We have extended our flagship Rough Sleeping Initiative to 2025, with over £530 million funding so that local areas can provide the tailored support needed to end rough sleeping. This includes an additional investment of £34.6 million announced in September 2023, to increase funding of rough sleeping services in local areas with the greatest need and to maximise impact.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the execution of anti-government protestors in Iran, and what discussions they have had with the government of Iran about this matter.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. On 8 December and 9 January, the Foreign Secretary summoned Iran's most senior diplomat in the UK to protest Iran's continued use of the death penalty against protesters. This same message has been delivered repeatedly through our Ambassador in Tehran, and in London, including when Lord Ahmad spoke to the Chargé d' Affaires on 20 December. The UK remains committed to holding Iran to account for its repression of protesters. Since October, we have announced 50 new sanctions designations on individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations in Iran, including the Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri on 14 January, his deputy on 23 January, and other judiciary figures responsible for Iran's barbaric use of the death penalty for political ends.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to calculate the affordability of housing on the basis of the income of potential tenants.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There are no plans to change the definition of affordable housing set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The definition makes it clear that 80% is the ceiling that social housing providers have to meet in order for it to be classified as affordable housing for rent, but can be set lower in order to meet the needs of local residents.
Social Rent is a tenure which is already assessed based on local earnings. It is calculated by using 30% of the property's relative value (based back to 1999), 70% of the relative local income levels (based back to 1999) and applying a weighting based on the number of bedrooms so that smaller properties will have lower rents.
Our Levelling Up White Paper commits to increasing the number of social rent homes.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given the current definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework, whether they consider that rents set at 80 per cent of market rates should continue to be described as 'affordable rent' when this represents more than a third of the income of the average tenant in such accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There are no plans to change the definition of affordable housing set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The definition makes it clear that 80% is the ceiling that social housing providers have to meet in order for it to be classified as affordable housing for rent, but can be set lower in order to meet the needs of local residents.
Social Rent is a tenure which is already assessed based on local earnings. It is calculated by using 30% of the property's relative value (based back to 1999), 70% of the relative local income levels (based back to 1999) and applying a weighting based on the number of bedrooms so that smaller properties will have lower rents.
Our Levelling Up White Paper commits to increasing the number of social rent homes.