Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department distinguishes between (a) relocation agents, (b) estate agents and (c) property agents within the housing sector, in the context of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The existing measures in this Bill will apply principally to managing agents acting on behalf of their landlord or estate manager, but measures relating to the ban on new leasehold houses will also apply to those involved in marketing a property, including estate agents.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on relocation agents.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century. The Impact Assessment for the Bill considers the impact on letting agents (which includes relocation agents).
It estimates that as a result of familiarisation costs and more stable private rented sector tenancies, letting agents will face costs of £1,085 per agent per year over the ten-year appraisal period. The reforms may also create new opportunities for letting agents, such as services which support landlords to meet their new requirements.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many referrals under the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 in relation to freehold marketing particulars been have reported to his Department through the National Trading Standards Team since those Regulations came into force.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what effect sleeping in a car has on prioritisation in homelessness policy for housing from a local authority.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
If a person is sleeping in a typical car, and has no other accommodation available, they will be homeless and entitled to homeless assistance from the local authority.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his Department's policies on the provision of support for Afghan refugees on trends in levels of homelessness for that group.
Answered by Paul Scully
Thanks to an enormous collaborative effort across the public and private sector, we have welcomed over 21,000 Afghans and continue to receive more families each month. Work is continuing across Government to ensure the Afghans who stood side by side with us in conflict, their families and those at highest risk who have been evacuated, are supported as they now rebuild their lives in the UK. We are encouraging all councils to work alongside us to provide accommodation and support for Afghans in need of our compassion and support to rebuild their lives in the UK. C.7,000 Afghans have now been moved into permanent accommodation.
We have announced a £25.5 million Housing Costs fund to help meet the costs of housing. The additional housing support is being provided to enable local authorities to come forward with offers of accommodation to larger families as soon as possible. For example, it can be used to provide a top up payment, where it is needed to meet the gap between market rent and the Local Housing Allowance, or to help meet shortfalls which impact on a family's ability to cover their rent.
In the longer-term, the provision of affordable housing is a key element of the Government's plan to end the housing crisis, tackle homelessness and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the housing ladder. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. Around half the homes will be for affordable and social rent and we will deliver more than double the amount of social rent compared to the current programme, with around 32,000 social rent homes due to be delivered.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken for claimants to receive a decision on Building Safety Fund applications on the cost of the works.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Building owners and managing agents remain responsible for completing their full applications without delay. Due to ongoing support and engagement from the Department we are continuing to see an increase in the number of buildings completing remediation. We continue to actively engage with building owners, including providing expert support, and to submit evidence of cost variations where they relate to the works permitted for grant funding.
For high-rise buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding, over £1.3 billion has already been allocated from the Building Safety Fund. This means that over 90,000 homes within high-rise blocks are covered by Building Safety Fund applications and leaseholders and residents can be assured the fire risks caused by the unsafe cladding will be addressed at no cost to them.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will provide additional funding for approved or funded Building Safety Fund works that are at risk of incompletion due to rising (a) energy and (b) other costs.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Government funding will continue to be available to pay for all eligible works within the Building Safety Fund and all eligible cost variations. It is the responsibility of building owners or managing agents to submit evidence of cost variations where they relate to the works permitted for grant funding - examples of which may include professional fees, site set up or construction costs.
The Department is regularly monitoring the costs of the remediation of high-rise buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding through regular consultation with industry bodies and associations. Officials closely track contractor capacity, cost and supply of construction materials and other external market factors to mitigate risk and ensure that remediation projects can complete as soon as possible.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether funding provided through the Building Safety Fund has been (a) insured and (b) otherwise protected against rising (i) workforce, (ii) energy and (iii) other costs.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Government funding will continue to be available to pay for all eligible works within the Building Safety Fund and all eligible cost variations. It is the responsibility of building owners or managing agents to submit evidence of cost variations where they relate to the works permitted for grant funding - examples of which may include professional fees, site set up or construction costs.
The Department is regularly monitoring the costs of the remediation of high-rise buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding through regular consultation with industry bodies and associations. Officials closely track contractor capacity, cost and supply of construction materials and other external market factors to mitigate risk and ensure that remediation projects can complete as soon as possible.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support leaseholders who have been affected by remedial fire safety works to help cover rising insurance costs for their homes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I urgently want to relieve the financial pressures facing leaseholders due to unfair and unwarranted insurance premiums.
I have called on the FCA and the CMA to conduct a review of the buildings insurance market to get to the bottom of concerning year-on-year price increases, and the restricted cover on offer to leaseholders. The FCA is currently collecting data on market conditions to inform their review. By better understanding the root and scale of this issue in a thorough review, the Government can seek ways to ensure leaseholders get the value for money they deserve. The review is part of a wider raft of measures to protect innocent leaseholders from the impact of building safety issues.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many meetings he has held with developers since his announcement on 10 January 2022 that the Government plans to make developers and companies pay to fix the cladding crisis.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.