Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the speech of 20 September 2023 by the Prime Minister on Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) tackle damp and mould in rented properties and (b) ensure the long-term availability of (i) high quality and (ii) energy-efficient social rented housing.
Answered by Jacob Young
Government is committed to tackling damp and mould in rented homes. The government is reviewing the Decent Homes Standard and introducing it to the private rented sector for the first. We have introduced Awaab's Law into the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, committing to set strict time limits for social landlords to investigate and repair significant hazards in their homes, including damp and mould
We committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes in the Levelling Up white paper, the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy, and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.
We have committed to consult on energy efficiency in the social rented sector. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act has made energy efficiency a core objective of the Regulator of Social Housing and over £1 billion of Social Housing Decarbonisation funding has already been allocated to social housing landlords, with £3.8 billion by 2030 committed in our 2019 manifesto.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Law Commission entitled Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease published in July 2020.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.
On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.
On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with industry stakeholders on the Government's proposed reforms to the leasehold system.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.
On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.
On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 hold a consultation with leaseholders and industry before bringing forward legislative proposals for reforms to the leasehold system.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.
On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.
On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the required testing site capacity to carry out fire door tests for the new EN1634-1 classification within the proposed 12-month transition period as detailed in the consultation entitled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings consultation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed 12-month transition period from the national fire door testing standard BS476 to the proposed new standard EN1634-1 on the (a) costs and (b) productivity of the timber fire door manufacturing sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has held discussions with the timber fire door manufacturing sector on his Department's consultation entitled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The consultation titled Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings closed on 17 March 2023, with the department receiving over 270 responses. The department, alongside the Building Safety Regulator, is committed to working with the sector to bring about the changes highlighted in the consultation, at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 make an assessment of the feasibility of (a) expanding the Unique Property Reference Number system to make it available for the wider property market and (b) encouraging the use of the Unique Property Reference Number system by the wider property market.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government has already mandated the use of Unique Property Reference Numbers for gathering and storing address data in government systems which is available for the wider property market to use and benefit from.
We continue to explore a number of digital solutions to create an accessible 21st century residential property market and are developing a detailed plan to take this work forward which will focus on property data.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the cumulative cost for leaseholders of the new building safety regime since the Building Safety Act received Royal Assent.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The department published an impact assessment in July 2021 that accompanied the introduction of the Building Safety Bill to Parliament. This estimated the ongoing costs of the new building safety regime (excluding the costs of Part 5, protections for leaseholders), which could then be passed on to leaseholders.
We intend to publish a revised estimate of the cost to leaseholders in the Impact Assessment that will accompany proposed secondary legislation relating to Part 4 of the Building Safety Act.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the developer contract for the remediation of high risk buildings will ensure that buildings meet the same standards of (a) structural safety and (b) fire safety as those that will be required by the new Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The developer contract is being finalised and will be published shortly. We expect developers to remediate or mitigate life-critical fire-safety defects. We expect developers to assess their buildings using the relevant standards, including the standard methodology for external wall construction and cladding set out in in PAS9980:2022 and we expect developers to obtain sign-off that the works meet the relevant standards and comply with Building Regulations.
The Building Safety Regulator will perform its statutory functions independently of the contract. The Regulator takes a risk-based approach to higher-risk buildings and will have regard to relevant industry standards.