Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 16 December 2020 to Question 128640, if he will update the guidance Building safety advice for building owners, including fire doors to help ensure that that guidance does not impede individuals' ability to buy and sell properties in low-rise buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department has no plans to amend ‘Advice for Building Owners of Multi-Storey, Multi-Occupied Residential Buildings’ as published in January 2020.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 16 December 2020 to Question 128640, what discussions he has had with Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors on the timetable for the introduction of new guidance for surveyors which will make clear the circumstances when EWS1 valuation forms are, and are not, to be requested.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department has regular discussions with RICS, who plan to publish draft guidance for public consultation in 2021.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with RICS on ensuring that its members abide by the agreement between the Government and RICS announced on 21 November 2020 that owners of flats in buildings without cladding will no longer need an EWS1 form to sell or re-mortgage their property.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
RICS have agreed?that buildings without cladding do not need an EWS1 form. RICS are consulting on guidance for valuers, and Government has regular discussions with RICS about the issues associated with EWS1.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of buildings of three storeys or less which need to undergo an external wall survey process before dwellings can be sold or re-mortgaged.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The EWS1 process is not a Government or regulatory requirement. Whether an EWS1 is needed is determined by lenders and the professionals valuing a building - not all lenders ask for an EWS1. The Department has come to an agreement with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that flats in blocks without cladding do not need an EWS1 form. Buildings under 18m should not fall into the EWS1 process, unless in exceptional circumstances – usually relating to the proportion of cladding on the building. The Department has not made an estimate of the number of buildings of three storeys or fewer that have been brought into the current EWS1 process. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is working with wider industry, including lenders, on new guidance for surveyors which will make clearer the circumstances when EWS1 valuation forms are, and are not, to be requested.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 ensure that mortgage lenders do not request EWS1 forms for flats in blocks of three storeys or less.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The EWS1 process is not a Government or regulatory requirement. Whether an EWS1 is needed is determined by lenders and the professionals valuing a building - not all lenders ask for an EWS1. The Department has come to an agreement with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that flats in blocks without cladding do not need an EWS1 form. Buildings under 18m should not fall into the EWS1 process, unless in justifiable circumstances – usually relating to the proportion of cladding on the building. RICS is working with wider industry, including lenders, on new guidance for surveyors which will make clearer the circumstances when EWS1 valuation forms are, and are not, to be requested.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the traditional boundary of the County Palatine of Lancaster is extant; and what effect the Local Government Acts (a) 1888, (b) 1929 and (c) 1972 have on that County Palatine in relation to (i) Audenshaw, (ii) Denton, (ii) Reddish, (iv) Heaton Chapel and (v) Heaton Norris.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The County Palatine of Lancaster is often seen as the historic county of Lancashire. The historic counties are an important element of our traditions which support the identity and cultures of many of our local communities. The government has been active in promoting the historic counties of our nation as a key element of our heritage and will continue to do so.
No legislation has specifically abolished historic counties, but they do not exist for the purposes of the administration of local government or ceremonial purposes, though historic, administrative and ceremonial boundaries may in some cases be coterminous. All of the areas mentioned in the question are historically within the County Palatine of Lancaster, and are now in the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Stockport and Tameside, and within the area of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, for the delivery of their modern local services.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adopting a property buying process with legally binding missives in England.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As we set out in the Government response to the Call for Evidence on improving the home buying and selling process published in April 2018, adopting a property buying process with legally binding missives would require a fundamental re-engineering of the way in which houses are bought and sold in England.
We think that it may be possible to deliver many of the benefits of binding missives without the associated disruption through the adoption of a standardised reservation agreement. These agreements would see buyers and sellers commit to going ahead with the transaction and suffering a financial penalty if they withdrew without good reason, and these could be accommodated within the current process. Government is currently working with industry to evaluate the potential of these agreements.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities that plan to issue s114 notices during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department recognises the additional costs and pressures on finances councils are facing as a result of the current Covid-19 crisis. We have made £3.7 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic; this includes £500 million of additional funding announced by the Secretary of State on 2 July. The Government also announced a further component of its comprehensive approach to support councils in addressing their income losses, including a co-payment scheme to cover irrecoverable sales, fees and charges income in 20/21. We also confirmed that we will extend the period over which councils must manage shortfalls in local tax income relating to 2020-21, from 1 to 3 years, and we will announce further details of how we will support local authorities to manage tax losses at the comprehensive spending review later in the year.
The Department continues to engage regularly with the local government sector, which includes our ongoing financial monitoring survey and direct contact with councils and their representatives, local Leaders and Chief Executives. 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. We have worked closely with CIPFA 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 of any immediate financial concerns.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a moratorium on evictions in areas where local covid-19 lockdowns are in force from 24 August 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Lifting the suspension on possession cases in the county court from 24 August is an important step towards ending the lockdown.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary on arrangements, including new rules, to ensure that when the courts re-open they are better able to address the need for appropriate protection of all parties.
In the event of any local lockdown, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service would follow Public Health England and government guidance issued at the time. The listing of cases remains a judicial function and as such listing arrangements would be led by the local judiciary.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on delaying the periodic Ward Boundary Reviews in (i) Tameside and (ii) Stockport for one year to allow local authorities to focus resources on covid-19 prevention and community support activity.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Responsibility for reviewing ward boundaries sits with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, an independent Parliamentary body responsible to the Speaker's Committee, which agrees the Commission's budget and programme of work.