Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not collect data on the number of social housing properties that are vacant between tenancies at any one time.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the principal barriers preventing shared ownership leaseholders from staircasing to full ownership.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.
As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.
The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.
To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of service charges on the affordability of shared ownership homes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.
As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.
The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.
To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of regional differences in access to shared ownership schemes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware that some shared owners who wish to staircase face challenges in doing so. These can include affordability pressures, wider housing market conditions, transaction costs associated with staircasing, service charges and other ongoing housing costs.
As part of these wider affordability pressures, the government is aware that some shared owners have experienced challenges with service charge affordability. Service charges form an important part of the overall housing costs faced by many shared owners and can affect their ability to staircase.
The impact of these costs can also vary between different parts of the country. The government recognises that housing markets and affordability pressures differ across England, which can affect both access to Shared Ownership and customer experiences of the scheme.
To help address these challenges, the government has introduced new expectations for landlords including greater consideration of long-term affordability, increased transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit, and enabling customers to opt out of optional services.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average and median turnaround time for social housing properties between tenancies in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by local authority.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department’s annual Social Housing Lettings in England statistical series includes data on the mean and median re-let times for social housing properties between tenancies in England and can be found in table 2fi and 2fii on gov.uk here. In line with data protection legislation, this is not broken down by local authority.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of local authority housing waiting lists; and whether they collect information on the frequency with which local authorities review their housing registers.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department has not made an assessment of the accuracy of local authority housing registers (waiting lists) and does not collect information on how frequently local authorities review their housing registers.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 June (HL763), what criteria they used to determine that the home buying and selling reform roadmap constitutes the “biggest shake-up to home buying in this country’s history".
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 19 June, the Government published a roadmap setting out the actions it will take over the course of this Parliament to reform home buying and selling.
This marks a fundamental transformation, taking a whole‑system approach. It addresses the regulatory framework surrounding home moving, harnesses technological advances, and drives cultural and behavioural change, all underpinned by a comprehensive programme of legislation.
We believe this represents the most ambitious programme of reform to the home buying and selling process to date.
These reforms will create a system that is faster, more transparent and more reliable for consumers. They are expected to cut transaction times by around four weeks, save first-time buyers an average of £650, and halve the number of failed transactions.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement made by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 June (HLWS119), what plans they have to rename the new Place Unit.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are no plans to rename the new Place Unit.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why property owners will be liable for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge when occupiers are liable for council tax as set out in section 6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The High Value Council Tax Surcharge is a new charge on owners of residential property in England worth £2 million or more, ensuring those who own the most valuable properties pay their fair share.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK will (1) participate in, or (2) contribute towards, the Interreg Europe programme, as part of the UK-EU reset.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We recognise the value of the UK associating to EU programmes, and the PEACE+ programme continues to operate in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Each EU programme is different and association to these programmes are made on a case by case basis, in line with the national interest.