Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mentioning the National Cycle Network in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The National Planning Policy Framework does currently state that planning policies should “provide for attractive and well-designed walking and cycling networks with supporting facilities which are designed to promote active travel”. We will certainly bear in mind my Hon Friend’s views for further updates.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to require local authorities to put the names of all unadopted roads in their authority on a website with the name of the responsible developer for each road.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I am grateful to my Honourable Friend for his suggestions and it is one we will bear in mind for the future.
Prospective homeowners should be made aware of the financial arrangements and their responsibilities are for the upkeep of any communal areas, whether public or otherwise, prior to purchase. Through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, we are taking action to protect homeowners and drive-up awareness of ongoing obligations when buying and selling a property.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Statement HCWS172 of 4 July 2022 on Building Regulations, when his Department plans to issue a technical consultation on the provision of toilets.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 83564 on 17 November 2022. Preparatory work on a technical consultation on the provision of toilets is underway, with a view to publication later this summer.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the use of the land and property register by local authorities for the enforcement of planning law.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
The Government is keen to ensure that local planning authorities have the right tools to allow them to take effective enforcement action. Good quality Land Registry data can be an important source of information to support enforcement action.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Private Parking Code of Practice will come into force.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Private Parking Code of Practice has been temporarily withdrawn to review the decisions to introduce new levels of private parking charges and to ban additional fees that are currently added on top of the late or unpaid parking charge. While I am not able to confirm when the Code will be reissued, I would like to reassure my honourable friend that my department continues to work with industry and consumer groups to do this as quickly as possible. We are committed to reissuing a Code that provides both the best possible protection for motorists and enables effective management of parking.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the change to freeholder control of large residential blocks on fire and security risks.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s priority is to ensure that the fire and structural safety risks for all higher-risk buildings are managed effectively by those responsible for building safety. The Building Safety Act 2022 identifies and places legal obligations with regard to building safety on Accountable Persons, irrespective of tenure and ownership. This is to ensure that building safety will be managed on an on-going basis for all higher-risk buildings. Where Accountable Persons do change, provisions in the Act ensure that key information and duties pass to any new Accountable Person.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of leasehold reform on (a) levelling up and (b) the deliverability of Kings Cross-style regeneration projects.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to creating a fairer and more transparent housing system that works for everyone and to delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold reform within this Parliament. Leasehold and commonhold reform supports our mission to level up homeownership and promote true homeownership for all by addressing the power imbalance at the heart of the leasehold system and putting the power into the rightful hands of homeowners.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 (which comes into force on 30 June 2022) is the first part of leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent. The impact assessment for the Act was published on 12 May 2021 and can be accessed via the Parliamentary Bills website ( https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2864).
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. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications and impacts with care.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of leasehold reform on the UK insurance industry.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to creating a fairer and more transparent housing system that works for everyone and to delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold reform within this Parliament. Leasehold and commonhold reform supports our mission to level up homeownership and promote true homeownership for all by addressing the power imbalance at the heart of the leasehold system and putting the power into the rightful hands of homeowners.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 (which comes into force on 30 June 2022) is the first part of leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent. The impact assessment for the Act was published on 12 May 2021 and can be accessed via the Parliamentary Bills website ( https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2864).
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. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications and impacts with care.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of leasehold reform on investment in the UK economy.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to creating a fairer and more transparent housing system that works for everyone and to delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold reform within this Parliament. Leasehold and commonhold reform supports our mission to level up homeownership and promote true homeownership for all by addressing the power imbalance at the heart of the leasehold system and putting the power into the rightful hands of homeowners.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 (which comes into force on 30 June 2022) is the first part of leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent. The impact assessment for the Act was published on 12 May 2021 and can be accessed via the Parliamentary Bills website ( https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2864).
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. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications and impacts with care.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of leasehold reform on Britain’s high streets.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to creating a fairer and more transparent housing system that works for everyone and to delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold reform within this Parliament. Leasehold and commonhold reform supports our mission to level up homeownership and promote true homeownership for all by addressing the power imbalance at the heart of the leasehold system and putting the power into the rightful hands of homeowners.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 (which comes into force on 30 June 2022) is the first part of leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent. The impact assessment for the Act was published on 12 May 2021 and can be accessed via the Parliamentary Bills website ( https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2864).
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. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.
This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications and impacts with care.