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Written Question
Kirklees Council: Finance
Tuesday 20th December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 leader of Kirklees Council on funding for (a) adult and (b) children’s services in Kirklees in the last 12 months.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on www.gov.uk.


Written Question
Housing Associations: West Yorkshire
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of housing association properties constructed in (a) Huddersfield constituency, (b) the wider Kirklees Council area, (c) Calderdale and (d) Wakefield in the year 2020-21.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling completions, by tenure, in each local authority district in England, are shown in Live Table 253, at the following link.

These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The department also publishes an annual release entitled 'Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England', which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.

Information on new build units by provider and geography can be derived from the affordable housing supply open data available here.

The latest available data is for the financial year 2021-22.

Statistics at Huddersfield parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.


Written Question
Housing: West Yorkshire
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of private properties constructed in (a) Huddersfield constituency, (b) the wider Kirklees Council area, (c) Calderdale and (d) Wakefield in the year 2020-21.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling completions, by tenure, in each local authority district in England, are shown in Live Table 253, at the following link.

These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The department also publishes an annual release entitled 'Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England', which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.

Information on new build units by provider and geography can be derived from the affordable housing supply open data available here.

The latest available data is for the financial year 2021-22.

Statistics at Huddersfield parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Huddersfield
Friday 2nd December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 made an assessment of the impact of trends in the level of social housing provision in Huddersfield on the Government's levelling up agenda.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

The Government understands the importance of social housing to maintaining communities, both in the Hon. Member's constituency and right across the country.

That is why, through our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme we will deliver significant volumes of social housing, including homes for social rent, to ensure that hard working families and individuals can live in safety and security in the communities they call home.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Kirklees
Friday 2nd December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to improve the supply of social housing in (a) Huddersfield constituency and (b) the wider Kirklees area.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

The Government understands the importance of social housing to maintaining communities, both in the Hon. Member's constituency and right across the country.

That is why, through our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme we will deliver significant volumes of social housing, including homes for social rent, to ensure that hard working families and individuals can live in safety and security in the communities they call home.


Written Question
Temporary Accommodation: Domestic Abuse
Friday 2nd December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 made an assessment on the impact of trends in the level of availability of emergency accommodation in Huddersfield on victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Answered by Felicity Buchan

We introduced a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure that all victims, including children, have access to safe accommodation when they need it. The amount of funding for each council for 2021/22 can be found using this link and the funding for each council for 2022/23 can be found using this link.

In addition, we have run a number of joint workshops with the Local Government Association and each council must work closely with their Local Partnership Board, assess the needs of victims locally and commission the right safe accommodation support services needed to meet the identified need.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Huddersfield
Friday 2nd December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 made an assessment of the impact of trends in the level of suitable social housing on overcrowding in those dwellings in Huddersfield.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

Local councils are responsible for allocating housing and are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensures that they must give 'reasonable preference' to specific groups including people who are in overcrowded housing. Statutory guidance recommends local authorities consider giving 'additional preference' (high priority') to families in severe overcrowding.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing
Thursday 1st December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans his Department has to increase the quality of social housing.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

The Government has taken a variety of recent steps to increase the quality of social housing, including through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill. More recently, the Secretary of State has written to all providers of social housing and a copy of the letter is available here.


Written Question
Property: Huddersfield
Thursday 1st December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 holds data on property usage in (a) Huddersfield and (b) the Kirklees local council area.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

Statistics on dwellings in each local authority district in England, including on current tenure and vacancy, are published in the Department's live tables 100 and 615 which are available here.

Statistics at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.


Written Question
First Time Buyers: Interest Rates
Thursday 1st December 2022

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

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 impact of trends in the level of interest rates on the ability of people on the average income to buy a first home.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

We continue to work closely with HM Treasury to examine the mortgage market, including for first time buyers.