Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to give tenants the right to keep pets in (a) rented accommodation and (b) leasehold properties.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government recognises that pets can bring joy and comfort to their owners, as well as supporting their mental and physical wellbeing.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will ensure that private landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a request from their tenant to keep a pet. The Bill provides added flexibility where they need to obtain consent of a superior landlord when considering a request. We know that some landlords are concerned about the potential damage caused by pets, so we will also allow landlords to require insurance covering pet damage.
The ability of a leaseholder to keep a pet will depend on the terms of individual leases. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament. Where leases restrict the keeping of pets however, this would be a matter for individual leaseholders to raise with their landlord.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will prevent local authorities from informing people that are intentionally homeless and cannot be supported.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is committed to preventing homelessness and in 2021/22 we provided £310 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to enable local authorities to implement their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act. The Act is the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, placing duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties apply irrespective of whether a person may be regarded as being ‘intentionally homeless’.
Households with a priority need whose homelessness has not been successfully prevented or relieved, are owed a lesser duty if they have become homeless intentionally than if they were homeless unintentionally. This ensures that resources, including temporary accommodation and access to settled housing, are prioritised effectively and accommodation is there for people who need it most. In such cases, a duty remains on the local authority to secure temporary accommodation, to provide reasonable opportunity for the household to find their own longer-term accommodation. The authority must also provide advice and assistance in any attempts the applicant might make to secure accommodation.
Intentionally homeless applicants are therefore entitled to assistance under the legislation and can be supported.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend right to buy to housing association tenants after the completion of the 2017 pilot scheme.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy and to spreading the dream of home ownership to even more people. The Midlands pilot of the Voluntary Right to Buy scheme completed this year and has been fully evaluated. The Government is looking at the findings, which will be used to inform future policy. As set out in the 2019 manifesto, the Government will evaluate new pilot areas and we will be announcing more details on that.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his timescale is for amendments to section 121 of the Law of Property Act 1925.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government has previously committed to ensure that where a freeholder pays a rentcharge, the rentcharge owner is not able to take possession or grant a lease on the property where the rentcharge remains unpaid for a short period of time. This will be pursued when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2020 to Question 93582 on Local Government Finance, for what reason he did not state in that Answer how many local authority accountable officers have indicated to his Department that they may have to consider issuing Section 114 notices in the financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
As noted in the answer to Question 93582 on 30 September, throughout the Covid-19 pandemic the department has encouraged local authorities with concerns about unmanageable financial pressures to approach MHCLG in the first instance for discussion. The department has also taken the decision to proactively approach councils at an early stage to understand the challenges they are facing as a result of the pandemic.
The complex nature of many local authorities’ financial positions, particularly at this time, means that in each case there are many different financial scenarios leading to different outcomes. In advance of a decision from the relevant Section 151 officer on whether to issue a Section 114 notice, the department would treat any such discussions as confidential in nature.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authority accountable officers have indicated to his Department that they may have to consider issuing Section 114 notices in the financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the additional costs and pressures councils are facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout, the department has encouraged local authorities with concerns about unmanageable financial pressures to approach MHCLG in the first instance. If the Section 151 officer of a council judges that the council is unable to set or maintain a balanced budget, they must consider the possibility of a Section 114 notice. As is appropriate, that judgement rests with individual authorities.
The department has worked closely with CIPFA (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) who have temporarily amended their guidance on the use of Section 114 notices to further encourage local authorities to make contact with the department in the first instance to advise it of any immediate financial concerns. In advance of a decision from the relevant Section 151 officer, the department would treat such conversations as confidential in nature.
The department is continuing to engage closely with local government to understand what further support is needed to help them manage the impact of the pandemic. This includes monthly data collection, as well as a proactive approach to speaking with individual councils at an early stage.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide support to leaseholders in flats that require cladding safety works.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is providing £1.6 billion to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding and make homes safer, quicker. We have also appointed construction experts who are reviewing remediation timescales and identifying what can be done to increase pace. Where building owners have failed to act, despite government support, the Government has supported enforcement action.
However,?we recognise that there are wider remediation costs which will need to be met to ensure the safety of existing blocks of flats. We have asked MHCLG advisor Michael Wade to accelerate work on identifying options for financing solutions that remove barriers to fixing historic defects and protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs; but we must also ensure that the bill does not fall on taxpayers.
The new building safety regime will prevent similar safety defects occurring in new builds in the future. It will also systematically address historic defects by requiring safety case reviews and reasonable improvements.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide a Government loan facility for leaseholders needing to fund cladding safety works.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is providing £1.6 billion to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding and make homes safer, quicker. We have also appointed construction experts who are reviewing remediation timescales and identifying what can be done to increase pace. Where building owners have failed to act, despite government support, the Government has supported enforcement action.
However,?we recognise that there are wider remediation costs which will need to be met to ensure the safety of existing blocks of flats. We have asked MHCLG advisor Michael Wade to accelerate work on identifying options for financing solutions that remove barriers to fixing historic defects and protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs; but we must also ensure that the bill does not fall on taxpayers.
The new building safety regime will prevent similar safety defects occurring in new builds in the future. It will also systematically address historic defects by requiring safety case reviews and reasonable improvements.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on extending eligibility to Right to Buy discounts to Housing Association tenants.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This Government strongly believes in supporting social housing tenants to buy their own home. The Voluntary Right to Buy for housing association tenants is currently being piloted in the Midlands, which is giving thousands of tenants in the East and West Midlands the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of home ownership. The pilot will be fully evaluated after its completion. As set out in the 2019 manifesto, we will be evaluating new pilot areas, and we will announce more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to stop local authorities using (a) bailiffs and (b) debt collection agents collecting (i) rent and (ii) council tax arrears.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has put in place measures to prevent enforcement agents taking control of goods at residential premises and on highways until 23 August 2020.
This is part of an unprecedented support package to help prevent people getting into rent arrears or financial hardship. The Government has also taken action to prevent renters, including council tenants, from eviction. On 5 June, the Government announced that the current suspension of evictions from social or private rented accommodation will be extended by 2 months until 23 August 2020. This means that no action to evict a tenant will proceed before 24 August 2020. The emergency measures in the Coronavirus Act, which requires landlords to give at least 3 months' notice to evict tenants, are unaffected by this and remain in place until 30 September 2020.
Many local authorities have put in place alternative council tax collection arrangements to support their local residents in paying their bills. In addition, the Government has provided an additional £500 million hardship fund to help some of the most vulnerable households with their council tax bills.