Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the new sponsorship scheme for Ukrainians without family ties to the UK will open.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
I refer the Hon Member to the Secretary of State's statement to Parliament of 14 March 2022.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings from the Community Security Trust that anti-Jewish hate incidents have increased 34 per cent from 2020.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Any amount of antisemitism is too much and the Government will continue tackling it in all its forms. We are providing £14 million this year, and provided over £65 million to date, for the Protective Security Grant to protect Jewish schools and community buildings. We also were the first country to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and will continue to encourage organisations and councils to take this important step to combat antisemitism in their communities.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of purpose-built student housing on house prices in Bath.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of purpose-built student housing on house prices in Bath.
Our National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community. This includes, but is not limited to, students.
Our planning practice guidance states that local planning authorities should plan for sufficient student accommodation, whether this consists of communal halls of residence or self-contained dwellings, and whether or not it is on campus. Encouraging more dedicated student accommodation may provide low cost housing that takes pressure off the private rented sector and increases the overall housing stock.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will commit to reforming public sector land policy to ensure that affordable housing can be delivered more quickly.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Work has begun on a new, ambitious cross-Government Estates strategy to look at how public sector land can be managed and released so it can be put to better use. This will include home building, improving the environment, contributing to net-zero goals and injecting growth opportunities into communities across the country.
National Planning Policy Framework sets out that it is for local authorities to assess the housing needs of different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in their planning policies
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of Section 21 evictions issued, by (a) ethnicity and (b) gender of the person being evicted, in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
There is no requirement on landlords to notify the Government when they serve notice of their intention to seek possession to their tenant. As such, the Department does not hold data on the number of Section 21 notices issued by ethnicity, or the gender of the person being evicted.
If the tenant does not vacate the property after the expiry of a notice, a landlord is required to make a claim for possession in the county court to legally regain possession of the property. This can result in the property being repossessed by a county court bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer if the case is not otherwise resolved.
The Mortgage and Landlord Repossession Statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, record the number of claims for possession brought by landlords in the county court in each quarter, and the number of repossessions carried out by county court bailiffs. These statistics show that there were 359 evictions via the accelerated procedure (section 21) in April to June 2021 but data on the ethnicity or gender of the occupiers whose property was repossessed is not collected.
The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of banning orders issued under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 in the last 12 months.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Local authorities are required make an entry on the database of rogue landlords and property agents where a person or organisation has received a banning order. In the last 12 months, there have been no entries made as a result of banning orders issued under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of proposals for a mandatory register of landlords.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government has committed to exploring the merits of introducing a national landlord register in England as part of a commitment to drive up standards in rented accommodation. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders from across the sector to inform this work and we will publish a White Paper in due course that will set out proposals for private rented sector reform.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of people in rent arrears, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) gender, as of 26 October 2021.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The full breakdown of those in arrears with rent payments is provided in Table T15, including Table T15h, which details whether private renters are in arrears with rent payments by ethnicity. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3 in ‘Household Resilience Study: Wave 3 tables’.
To help support the most vulnerable renters, the Government has recently made available the £500 million Household Support Fund and £65 million in additional Homelessness Prevention Grant funding.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Whether it is his policy that Local Nature Recovery Strategies should be given consideration by local authorities in all planning decisions.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Environment Bill currently before Parliament provides for a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities to have regard to the conservation of biodiversity. This strengthened duty includes a requirement to have regard to relevant Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
Our planning reforms will reinforce the implementation of these measures, to capitalise on the potential of Local Nature Recovery Strategies and biodiversity net gain as we seek to make the system clearer and more positive.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure adequate funding for the statutory duties in the Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure local authorities can provide support and protection to those experiencing domestic abuse and their children.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Following the outcome of Spending Review, £125 million funding will be allocated to local authorities, to cover costs of the new duty to provide support in safe accommodation for 2021-22.
MHCLG has also provided £6 million to support relevant local authorities to undertake early planning and preparation work so they are ready to implement the new duty.