Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of homes were built to EPC A or B standards last year.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In 2019, 83 per cent of newly constructed homes in England and Wales had an EPC rating of A or B.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new homes were built in the last 12 months to EPC C or D standards.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In 2019, 15 per cent of newly constructed homes in England and Wales had an EPC rating of C or D.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of low carbon heating technologies on new build homes; and what funding from the public purse is being made available to those technologies.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains fully committed to meeting its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. We have committed to introduce a Future Homes Standard by 2025. This means new homes will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and lower energy use through high levels of energy efficiency.
As a stepping stone towards the Future Homes Standard we are proposing a strengthening of these requirements in 2020 and then a further strengthening by 2025. We have consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes to be introduced through the Building Regulations in 2020. The analysis that underpinned this consultation considered the effect of low carbon heating technologies on the cost of building new homes, the cost of bills for consumers and of the carbon emissions of these new homes.
There are no current plans for any additional funding to be made available to support low carbon heating in new homes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers do local authorities have to ensure compliance of developments with regulations on energy efficiency.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Minimum energy efficiency requirements for new buildings are set through the Building Regulations. Local authorities have formal enforcement powers for dealing with breaches of the Building Regulations.
Section 35 of the Building Act 1984 allows a local authority to bring a prosecution in the Magistrates' Court for a breach of the Building Regulations, where an unlimited fine may be imposed.
Through Section 36 of the Building Act, local authorities have the power to require work to be rectified if it does not meet Building Regulations’ requirements.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on the consultation on mandatory accessible housing standards for disabled people announced on 4 September 2019.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We will consult shortly on various options to raise accessibility standards in all new homes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of wheelchair accessible housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We will consult shortly on various options to raise accessibility standards in new homes, including ways to improve wheelchair accessible housing provision.
Government also published planning guidance, in June 2019, to help councils meet current standards for wheelchair accessible housing in England.
This sets an expectation that planning policies on housing should make use of the Government’s optional technical standard for wheelchair user dwellings.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the availability of housing for older and disabled people.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is currently doing a full review of Part M of Building Regulations and we will consult shortly on various options to raise accessibility standards in new homes
Government’s planning guidance on housing for older and disabled people was published on 26 June 2019.
Our competition to deliver homes fit for the future was launched on 2 March 2020, intending to deliver new low carbon, age-friendly homes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there will be a consultation process as part of his review of the national model tenancy agreement.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 22 January to Question UIN 3196.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to (a) review the national model tenancy agreement and (b) publish the reviewed national model tenancy agreement.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We will shortly publish a revised and updated Model Tenancy Agreement on the Gov.uk website to assist tenants and landlords of assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector. While we will continue to update this document as required, we do not intend to conduct a fuller review, as the Government is planning a fuller overhaul of the assured shorthold tenancy framework through the Renters’ Reform Bill.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to include a consultation process in his review of the national model tenancy agreement.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We intend to seek feedback from a small group of key partners on our proposed changes to the national Model Tenancy Agreement ahead of publication.