Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help prevent leaseholders facing high fees for leasehold renewals.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44852 on 22 April 2025.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications for housing to local authorities were (a) partially and (b) wholly funded by the Government since July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not collect or publish data on how planning applications made to local planning authorities are funded.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has for regulation of the residential property management sector to improve standards and protect leaseholders and other residents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 41307 on 2 April 2025.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, under what circumstances freeholders become liable for higher insurance fees if they delay fire safety works.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The terms of individual leases determine when freeholders can pass on insurance costs to leaseholders. This remains the case even if there is a delay to remediating the building.
We are pushing for faster remediation as set out in the Remediation Acceleration Plan. We also intend to make it a criminal offence, and apply civil sanctions, against those who fail to remediate their unsafe buildings - including freeholders. Freeholders who delay works can expect swift and robust enforcement action from regulators, with the full support of government.
We remain committed to ensuring residents have access to information regarding their buildings insurance and can challenge unreasonable costs. Under the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Act we are making sure landlords provide leaseholders with information about their building’s insurance.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether freeholders are liable for insurance costs for leaseholders if court ordered safety works are not completed in time.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The terms of individual leases determine when freeholders can pass on insurance costs to leaseholders. This remains the case even if there is a delay to remediating the building.
We are pushing for faster remediation as set out in the Remediation Acceleration Plan. We also intend to make it a criminal offence, and apply civil sanctions, against those who fail to remediate their unsafe buildings - including freeholders. Freeholders who delay works can expect swift and robust enforcement action from regulators, with the full support of government.
We remain committed to ensuring residents have access to information regarding their buildings insurance and can challenge unreasonable costs. Under the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Act we are making sure landlords provide leaseholders with information about their building’s insurance.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will impose higher penalties on freeholders who do not implement fire safety works within timetables set out in court Remediation Orders.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) provides that a First-tier Tribunal decision made under or in connection with section 123 (remediation orders), will be enforceable with the permission of the County Court. Proceedings will function in the same way as under orders of that Court.
The current regime is intended to provide security to the majority of leaseholders and support actions to ensure buildings are remediated. As with all policies, the Government will keep open the option of considering changes in the future.
Indeed, our Remediation Acceleration Plan sets out our plan to go further in making sure there are severe penalties for landlords that delay works on cladding issues. We intend to introduce new criminal and civil sanctions for those who fail to assess and remediate unsafe buildings within fixed timescales, backed by a further £33 million investment in 25/26 to provide local and national regulators with capacity and capability to tackle hundreds of enforcement cases a year, targeting those neglecting to quickly remediate their buildings.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take with (a) developers and (b) freeholders who fail to meet remediation orders on time.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) provides that a First-tier Tribunal decision made under or in connection with section 123 (remediation orders), will be enforceable with the permission of the County Court. Proceedings will function in the same way as under orders of that Court.
The current regime is intended to provide security to the majority of leaseholders and support actions to ensure buildings are remediated. As with all policies, the Government will keep open the option of considering changes in the future.
Indeed, our Remediation Acceleration Plan sets out our plan to go further in making sure there are severe penalties for landlords that delay works on cladding issues. We intend to introduce new criminal and civil sanctions for those who fail to assess and remediate unsafe buildings within fixed timescales, backed by a further £33 million investment in 25/26 to provide local and national regulators with capacity and capability to tackle hundreds of enforcement cases a year, targeting those neglecting to quickly remediate their buildings.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that penalties are enforced for businesses and freeholders that delay works on cladding issues.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Landlords are legally responsible for making sure their buildings are safe and must do so without delay. Where works on cladding issues are delayed, regulators have legal powers to compel work by a set time and can penalise inaction. In 2023, Newham Council became the first council to successfully prosecute a landlord for delays in removing dangerous cladding. Others are following suit: As of 19 February 2025, enforcement action has been, or is being, taken under the Housing Act against 532 landlords of 11m+ buildings with unsafe cladding.
This Government is committed to working hand-in-glove with regulators to get unsafe buildings fixed without delay. We recently published ‘remediation enforcement guidance for regulators’, and launched a new fund which LAs and FRAs can access to obtain funding to get their own specialist legal advice on enforcement cases. The Department’s Recovery Strategy Unit also holds organisations to account who are failing to fix unsafe buildings and contribute to remediation costs.
Our Remediation Acceleration Plan sets out our plan to go further in making sure there are severe penalties for landlords that delay works on cladding issues. We intend to introduce new criminal and civil sanctions for those who fail to assess and remediate unsafe buildings within fixed timescales, backed by a further £33 million investment in 25/26 to provide local and national regulators with capacity and capability to tackle hundreds of enforcement cases a year, targeting those neglecting to quickly remediate their buildings.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of holiday lets on the affordability of rents; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving councils greater licensing powers to regulate the (a) number and (b) use of holiday lets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 13348 on 18 November 2024.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Building Safety Regulator processing speeds; and what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those speeds on the delivery of approved buildings.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware that there have been delays for applicants using the building regulation approval process for Higher Risk Buildings. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear gateway two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 12 weeks for new builds.
We recognise that changes are still bedding in and the BSR is a regulator in its infancy. However, it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. We understand the BSR have rejected a significant number of Gateway Two applications for failing to meet the building safety regulatory standards. The BSR continue to support applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations and guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.
MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions, which are embedding, to enable applications to be processed more efficiently: The BSR has recruited additional personnel and they are starting to process applications; the department has granted funding to HSE this financial year to improve its infrastructure, training and processes to maximise the BSR’s efficiency and effectiveness; MHCLG and the BSR are also reviewing how the multidisciplinary teams which assess applications are resourced to enable faster stand-up times; the Government has invested in new local authority building control inspectors to support the BSR; the Government has provided funding to support additional Fire and Rescue (FRS) staff to support the BSR and work to recruit and train these additional staff is well underway.