Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of rent increases on recent trends in the level of tenants being evicted.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Housing Survey found that in 2023-24 just under a third of private renters (32%) reported finding it either fairly or very difficult to afford their rent. This is an increase on the proportion seen in 2022-23 (29%), and pre-pandemic (27%).
The English Private Landlord Survey in 2023-24 also found that one of the most common reasons for a landlord evicting a tenant was rent arrears (42%).
The government recognises that paying rent is likely to be a tenant’s biggest monthly expense. The Renters’ Rights Bill empowers private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases, with all rent increases taking place via an existing statutory process.
Tenants who receive a rent increase that they feel is not representative of the market value will be able to challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal. This will prevent unscrupulous landlords using rent increases as a backdoor means of eviction, while ensuring rents can be increased to reflect market rates.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether any alternative funding streams are available for parish councils seeking to purchase community assets following the closure of the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 29854 on 12 February 2025.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether planned leasehold reforms will include (a) protection for owners of park homes and (b) control of charges and commissions payable when a site owner wishes to sell and leave a site.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s planned reforms to the leasehold sector will not apply to park homes, which are legally defined as caravans.
The contractual terms between a site owner and a park home resident for stationing a home on a pitch are set out in the Mobile Homes Act 1983. Park home owners do not have leases for their homes or the pitch on which the home sits.
The government recognises that there are longstanding concerns about the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home. We will set out plans in due course to seek further evidence from the sector on the rationale for the commission.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of a new planning class and permitted development rights for short-term lets on the number of (a) short-term lets and (b) private rented homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Whilst short-term lets can benefit local economies, the government appreciate that excessive concentrations in some areas of the country can impact the availability and affordability of homes both to rent and buy.
We have committed to introducing a registration scheme for short-term lets and removing the furnished holiday let rules to ensure all income from property will be treated the same for tax purposes.
We also recognise that more needs to be done and are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral response to the hon. Member for North Cornwall during Prime Minister's Questions on 16 October 2024, if she will meet with hon. Members representing Cornish constituencies.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Deputy Prime Minister held a meeting with all six Cornish Members of Parliament on 17 December 2024. There has also been a significant number of meetings with Cornish MPs individually and collectively with government ministers.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in employer's National Insurance on public services provided by Cornwall Council.
Answered by Jim McMahon
We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why the government is providing an additional £2 billion of grant funding through the Settlement, which includes £502 million of additional grant funding to manage the impact of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) changes on council budgets.
Additional funding for employer NICs has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff and the grant distribution methodology has been published in an explanatory note on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-explanatory-note-on-the-employer-national-insurance-contribution-grant-2025-to-2026.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law for unlawful (a) demolition of public houses and (b) conversion of public houses to another use.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The change of use or demolition of a public house requires planning permission.
The government does not collect data on the number of public houses which have unlawfully changed use or have been demolished in Cornwall or England.
We have not made any assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law in relation to such matters. We continue to keep the operation of the current protections for public houses under review.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many public houses have been unlawfully (a) converted to another use and (b) demolished in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England since 2017.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The change of use or demolition of a public house requires planning permission.
The government does not collect data on the number of public houses which have unlawfully changed use or have been demolished in Cornwall or England.
We have not made any assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law in relation to such matters. We continue to keep the operation of the current protections for public houses under review.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to prevent the permanent conversion of public houses to other uses through the High Street Rental Auctions scheme in (a) Cornwall and (b) England.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government champions the community value of pubs and has included a number of protections in the high street rental auction legislation. The local authority may restrict the use of the property within the lease terms. Should a change of use be approved, key infrastructure must be maintained, and the premises will revert to being a pub unless an application for change of use is made under the standard process. Therefore, even if a pub is subject to a High Street Rental Auction, its ability to become a functioning pub again can be guaranteed.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of legislating to increase the minimum percentage of affordable housing requirement when hew housing developments are (a) planned and (b) built.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The golden rules introduced through the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 require that development on the Green Belt delivers 15 percentage points more affordable housing than the existing local plan affordable housing requirements, up to a maximum of 50% (except where the local plan requirement is already higher). We estimate that the median affordable housing target in the Green Belt will be 50%.
Outside of the Green Belt, it is for local authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in planning policies. We will consider what further steps we can take to support social and affordable housing as part of our intent to produce a set of national policies for decision making later this year.