Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding the Government is making available to assist local authorities in meeting their statutory duty to provide short breaks and respite for seriously ill children.
Answered by Luke Hall
Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people, and local authorities in maintaining their statutory services, continues to be a key priority for this Government.
The Spending Review 2020 confirmed that the Core Spending Power of local authorities will rise by 4.6% in cash terms from £49.0 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, which is a real terms increase. This real-terms increase builds on the largest year-on-year increase in spending power in a decade and recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain children’s services, including their statutory duty to assess the social care needs of seriously ill children and young people, and to provide respite care where necessary.
The Government has also given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 spending pressures. This unprecedented level of funding is un-ringfenced in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet service pressures in their local area, including for children and young people.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes designed for use by the elderly.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are working closely with the sector and across Government to look at how we can further support the building of homes designed for use by the elderly.
We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund. £71 million will be provided for CASSH in 2021/22.
Furthermore, as part of our ongoing work on planning reform, we hosted a series of roundtables during the formal consultation period for the White Paper, which included representatives from the retirement development sector. We will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders as we further develop our proposals.
The Government also recently consulted on raising the accessibility standards of new homes, recognising the importance of suitable homes for older and disabled people. We are currently considering responses and will be publishing a Government response.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the home buying and selling process.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We identified a number of ways we intended to improve the home buying and selling process in our response to a Call for Evidence on ways to improve the home buying and selling process which was published in April 2018. We are working with industry to take these forward.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to improve the process of property searches to speed up home buying and selling.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As part of our work to improve the home buying and selling process, the Government sets an expectation that all local authorities will turn around searches in 10 working days, and the latest data shows that 87% of local authorities are meeting this target. We are aware that authorities have worked hard to maintain this service during this difficult period
In addition, HM Land Registry is implementing a digital national register of Local Land Charges and provision of property searches will improve as this process covers more local authorities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure buyers and sellers can access effective guidance on buying and selling homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In September 2019 we published detailed “How to sell” and “How to buy” guides, which are freely available on the Gov.uk website, and lead consumers through the full length of the process. Since March 2020 we published COVID-19 guidance to the housing industry and to those moving home, advising them on how they can work and move home safely.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support home ownership in Rother Valley constituency.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is committed to helping people get on the housing ladder across the country
Over 685,000 households have been helped to purchase a home since spring 2010 through Government-backed schemes such as Help to Buy: Equity Loan and Right to Buy. New initiatives including First Homes, improving shared ownership and a new £11.5 billion affordable homes programme will bring more affordable housing to those who need it
In Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced an extension of the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday for properties up to £500,000, saving buyers many thousands of pounds. We recognise finding a deposit is the biggest hurdle for many prospective buyers. The new mortgage guarantee scheme will increase the number of 95% mortgages available.