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Written Question
Council Housing: Mould
Wednesday 15th May 2024

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 support is available for tenants in dispute with local authorities on damp and mould issues.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

It is unacceptable for anyone to have to live in damp and mouldy conditions. Damp and mould can have a serious impact on the health of tenants. That is why the Secretary of State wrote to all providers of social housing, including local authorities, setting out his expectations that they go further than the letter of the Decent Homes Standard and have particular regard to damp and mould. He also wrote to local authority chief executives and council leaders making it clear they must take action to resolve poor housing conditions in their area.

Social housing tenants of local authorities who are unsatisfied with their landlord’s response to their complaint on damp and mould can raise their issue with the Housing Ombudsman. Our new guidance on damp and mould can also be accessed by tenants at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers.

We have committed to introducing ‘Awaab’s Law’, which will set requirements for social landlords to investigate and fix hazards such as damp and mould in social housing. Our consultation on Awaab’s Law closed on 5 March and we will bring forward secondary legislation to bring this into force as soon as practicable.

We have also given local authorities strong legal powers to use where privately rented or housing association houses or flats are in a seriously dangerous condition, including through damp and mould.


Written Question
Leasehold: Service Charges
Wednesday 15th May 2024

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 steps he is taking to help leaseholders in properties which are of no value due to remediation costs on service charges.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

Qualifying leaseholders in relevant buildings are protected in law from all costs associated with the remediation of unsafe cladding. For non-cladding building safety defects there are protections for leaseholders in relevant buildings with a qualifying lease.

This means that for the majority of qualifying leaseholders, their maximum cap for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). In addition, all leaseholders in relevant buildings benefit from qualifying lease status for their principal residence.


Written Question
Service Charges
Wednesday 15th May 2024

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, whether he plans to introduce a cap on service charges.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 24536 on 8 May 2024.


Written Question
Leasehold and Rented Housing: Pets
Monday 18th September 2023

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.


Written Question
Homelessness
Thursday 24th March 2022

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.


Written Question
Right to Buy Scheme: Housing Associations
Wednesday 8th September 2021

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.


Written Question
Leasehold
Monday 6th September 2021

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.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 5th October 2020

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.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Wednesday 30th September 2020

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.


Written Question
Flats: Insulation
Thursday 24th September 2020

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.