Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with supported housing providers on the potential (a) administrative, (b) financial and (c) homelessness impacts of the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The government consulted on proposals to implement the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act between 20 February 2025 and 15 May 2025. The government is assessing the responses to the consultation and will continue to work with supported housing providers, residents and stakeholders before publishing a government response in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 47931 on Tenants' Rights, what steps she plans to take to raise awareness among renters in rent-to-rent schemes of their new rights following passage of the Renters' Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government intends to provide tenants and landlords – including those operating within rent-to-rent arrangements – with a full suite of guidance to help them prepare for the commencement of the Renters’ Rights Bill.
We expect our guidance to be sufficiently comprehensive that all landlords affected by the reforms it contains will know what their responsibilities are, and tenants across the sector will feel empowered to hold landlords to account when things go wrong.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 impact of the Renters' Rights Bill on renters in rent to rent schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tenants living under rent-to-rent arrangements should have legal protections and the same right to redress as other private renters.
Rent to rent arrangements can be abused to make it more difficult to identify landlords and hold them to account.
The Renters’ Rights Bill addresses this in several ways:
To improve enforcement against criminal rent to rent schemes, we are expanding rent repayment orders to cover superior landlords in rent-to-rent arrangements. This will mean all landlords involved can be held to account by tenants.
We are also extending liability for rent repayment orders to company directors. This will help to ensure that where the rent-to-rent company has committed an offence, the individuals behind it cannot escape liability.
Complex ownership arrangements for rent-to-rent agreements should not impede effective enforcement. We intend to pass secondary legislation which will require the details of others associated with the property, such as the owner or superior landlord, to be recorded on the Private Rented Sector Database.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for (a) introducing a registration scheme for short-term lets, (b) removing the furnished holiday let rules to ensure all income from property will be treated the same for tax purposes and (c) concluding her consideration of what additional powers she might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government remains committed to introducing a national mandatory registration scheme for short-term lets. The initial phase of digital development is now complete, and public testing is planned to start in the next 12 months. Further details about the implementation of the scheme will be announced in due course.
The furnished holiday lettings rules cease to apply in tax years commencing on or after 6 April 2025 for Income Tax and for Capital Gains Tax, and 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax and for Corporation Tax on chargeable gains. This was enacted by the Finance Act 2025.
We are considering what further powers we might give to local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by second homes and short-term lets. We will announce further details on this in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 paragraph 2.62 of the Office for Budget Responsibility Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published on 26 March 2025, CP 1289, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the estimated increase in the housing stock on private rents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The factors affecting affordability in the private rented sector are complex and difficult to disentangle. As well as the size of the total housing stock, they include the movement of tenants into homeownership and social rented housing, house prices, taxation policy, and interest rates.
While it is difficult to isolate the specific impact of each of these factors, the government recognises that boosting supply is critical to improving housing affordability. This is why we are committed to achieving our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she will issue guidance to planning authorities on the cumulative impact of carbon emissions from infrastructure projects on the Government’s carbon reduction targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s Planning Practice Guidance on Climate Change, its National Design Guide and National Model Design Code provide general guidance on how carbon impacts can be taken into account in the town and country planning process.
For Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, National Policy Statements set out not only the need case for the infrastructure, but also the principles and types of impact against which they will be assessed (including air quality and carbon impacts).
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take legislative steps to reinstate Council Tax Benefit.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Government has no current plans to reinstate Council Tax Benefit.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 adequacy of the ability of local authorities to (a) take enforcement action against private sector landlords leaving private tenants with dangerous disrepair and (b) bring related prosecutions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities have powers to tackle hazardous conditions in private rented housing, including being able to issue landlords with improvement notices. Non-compliance with local authority enforcement action is a criminal offence.
The Renters’ Rights Bill, currently before Parliament, will strengthen these powers and support local authorities to enforce effectively. The Bill will introduce a new civil penalty of up to £7,000 where private landlords have failed to keep their properties free of dangerous hazards and applies a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time. The Bill also introduces a new Private Rented Sector Database which will enable local authorities to quickly identify landlords and better target enforcement.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to respond to the consultation entitled Changes to various permitted development rights which closed on on 9 April 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is reviewing proposals and feedback from the changes to various permitted development rights consultation, and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will remove the requirement for air source heat pumps to be situated at least one metre from the property boundary.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is reviewing proposals and feedback from the changes to various permitted development rights consultation, and will publish a response in due course.