Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his department has had discussions with Clarion Housing Group Board member, Lord Barwell, in the last 12 months about the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into that organisation’s repairs services and housing management.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to ensuring a better deal for tenants. In November 2020 we published “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”, which sets out clearly what every social housing resident in England should expect of their landlord. The Charter will deliver a transformation of the social housing regulatory regime, creating proactive consumer regulation and rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant. It will ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly, improve the quality of social homes and empower tenants.
In the Charter we are also committed to deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme to support resident’s effective engagement with landlords. We are also improving the complaints process for tenants; we have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman’s powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services, along with other reforms such as speeding up access to the Housing Ombudsman by removing the Democratic Filter.
With regards to the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group, the regulator is operationally independent, and Government does not interfere with how it regulates. Its general approach and how it ensures its standards are being met are set out in its guidance ‘Regulating the Standards’. I understand that as part of its recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group’s repairs service, the Regulator met with councillors who were raising concerns on behalf of residents. The Regulator kept the councillors updated on progress throughout the process. The Regulator did not meet directly with tenants or leaseholders as part of the investigation. The Department has not discussed the Regulator’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group with Lord Barwell.
Housing associations are independent organisations and are in charge of setting their own procedures for tenants to report repairs and complaints. By law, landlords need to respond within a reasonable timeframe, which will depend on the severity of the repair. The 20 working days referred to is a local, i.e. landlord, policy not a departmental policy.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group, for what reason it is his Department's policy that social landlords have 20 working days to respond to any repair that is not deemed an immediate risk to the health and safety of the tenant.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to ensuring a better deal for tenants. In November 2020 we published “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”, which sets out clearly what every social housing resident in England should expect of their landlord. The Charter will deliver a transformation of the social housing regulatory regime, creating proactive consumer regulation and rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant. It will ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly, improve the quality of social homes and empower tenants.
In the Charter we are also committed to deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme to support resident’s effective engagement with landlords. We are also improving the complaints process for tenants; we have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman’s powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services, along with other reforms such as speeding up access to the Housing Ombudsman by removing the Democratic Filter.
With regards to the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group, the regulator is operationally independent, and Government does not interfere with how it regulates. Its general approach and how it ensures its standards are being met are set out in its guidance ‘Regulating the Standards’. I understand that as part of its recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group’s repairs service, the Regulator met with councillors who were raising concerns on behalf of residents. The Regulator kept the councillors updated on progress throughout the process. The Regulator did not meet directly with tenants or leaseholders as part of the investigation. The Department has not discussed the Regulator’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group with Lord Barwell.
Housing associations are independent organisations and are in charge of setting their own procedures for tenants to report repairs and complaints. By law, landlords need to respond within a reasonable timeframe, which will depend on the severity of the repair. The 20 working days referred to is a local, i.e. landlord, policy not a departmental policy.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, If he will ask the Regulator of Social Housing to provide the number of tenants or leaseholders of Clarion Housing Group it had communications with as part of its recent investigation into that organisation’s repairs services before it concluded there had been no breach of the Homes Standard.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to ensuring a better deal for tenants. In November 2020 we published “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”, which sets out clearly what every social housing resident in England should expect of their landlord. The Charter will deliver a transformation of the social housing regulatory regime, creating proactive consumer regulation and rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant. It will ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly, improve the quality of social homes and empower tenants.
In the Charter we are also committed to deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme to support resident’s effective engagement with landlords. We are also improving the complaints process for tenants; we have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman’s powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services, along with other reforms such as speeding up access to the Housing Ombudsman by removing the Democratic Filter.
With regards to the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group, the regulator is operationally independent, and Government does not interfere with how it regulates. Its general approach and how it ensures its standards are being met are set out in its guidance ‘Regulating the Standards’. I understand that as part of its recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group’s repairs service, the Regulator met with councillors who were raising concerns on behalf of residents. The Regulator kept the councillors updated on progress throughout the process. The Regulator did not meet directly with tenants or leaseholders as part of the investigation. The Department has not discussed the Regulator’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group with Lord Barwell.
Housing associations are independent organisations and are in charge of setting their own procedures for tenants to report repairs and complaints. By law, landlords need to respond within a reasonable timeframe, which will depend on the severity of the repair. The 20 working days referred to is a local, i.e. landlord, policy not a departmental policy.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is his Department's policy that housing associations should provide full annual independent audit of service charges with the report published and available to the public and fully itemised bills accompanied with validated receipts.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Social Housing White Paper sets out clear transparency requirements for housing associations, with a clear expectation that all social housing residents should be able to know how their landlord is performing. As part of this, the Government has committed to introduce a new access to information scheme for social housing tenants of housing associations, as well as setting expectations for landlords to provide a clear breakdown of how their income is being spent.
The Government further believes that the service charge requests of all freeholders, regardless of who they might be, should be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong. A summary of leaseholders’ rights and responsibilities must currently be provided with the demand for charges.
The Government established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best, to consider transparency of fees and charges alongside the regulation of property agents. The working group published its final report to Government (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report) and we are considering the report’s recommendations.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received on residential developments that have had A1 or A2 EWS ratings re-assessed as B2; and what steps he is taking to ensure the standardisation of results through clarifying who is entitled to carry out those tests.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department is aware of a small number of cases regarding differing EWS1 valuation assessments. Differing assessments may be as a result of further information about a building being obtained. It is for the building owner to explain any changes in valuation assessment. RICS have published a list of professionals suitable to sign an EWS1 form.
An EWS1 form is not a safety certificate or safety ‘test’. An EWS1 form is not a replacement for a fire risk assessment, carried out by a competent professional.
To support professionals undertaking work to complete the external wall aspect of fire risk assessments, the Government has commissioned the British Standards Institution to produce a Publicly Available Specification (PAS). Known as PAS 9980, this is a code of practice is designed to ensure that if followed, assessments of external wall systems are consistent.
The code of practice has been published in draft form for public consultation, which closes on 20 May.
The Department is funding nearly £700k to train additional assessors. RICS, the body delivering the training, is ensuring alignment with the emergent code of practice.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department press release of 10 February 2021, Government to bring an end to unsafe cladding with multi-billion pound intervention, whether the Home Office's analysis of fire and rescue service statistics used by his Department as evidence on which to base the findings in that press release measured building heights from bottom to the top of the building or to the finished floor level of the top occupied storey of that building.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Methodological notes, including information on height measurements, is available in the Home Office publication here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831136/detailed-analysis-fires-attended-fire-rescue-england-1819-hosb1919.pdf
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 effect of delays to the timescales for the Building Safety Fund on the ability of housing associations to plan financially.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government does not expect there to be delays to the Building Safety Fund. All buildings, whether in the social or private sector, with an existing application to the Fund should be planning to start remediation work on site by September 2021. To ensure this critical safety work can commence at pace we offer expert construction consultation support to actively engage with those planning and undertaking remediation work under the Building Safety Fund.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 publish details of how to access the additional funding for the removal of unsafe cladding that was announced by his Department on 10 February 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The additional £3.5 billion of funding announced on 10 February provides assurance for leaseholders that all eligible applications to the Building Safety Fund will be able to proceed and that Government will fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres and over in England.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 extend the interest free period on Help To Buy Loans for leaseholders living in buildings with unsafe cladding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has announced a globally unprecedented investment in building safety and hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes
Government will provide grant funding worth over £5 billion for the removal of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres.
Lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal through a generous new financing scheme. The Government is conscious of the need to make any financing scheme affordable for leaseholders. That is why we have said that any financing scheme will have a £50 a month cap.
We will publish more details on how these will work alongside existing funds (including the Building Safety Fund (BSF)) soon. There are no plans to extend the interest-free period on Help to Buy Equity Loans.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 make support available to people in buildings deemed unsafe as a result of cladding or other fire safety issues who have seen recent increases in their building insurance premiums.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is aware that some leaseholders in high rise residential buildings are receiving very high building insurance premiums. The Department is working to understand this better and, with the insurance industry, to scope out potential resolutions. The Department has engaged directly with insurers and leaseholders on building insurance
The Minister for Building Safety is due to hold a further roundtable with both insurers and leaseholders later this month to address the issue of unaffordable building insurance specifically.