Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the announcement on 26 July 2022 that £10 million will be made available over three years to support providers of night shelters to transform their services in England through the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, if he will remove the criteria that only permits the submission of applications by organisations with a turnover of up to £5 million; if he will place a copy of his reply to the letter from Andy Winter, Chief Executive of the Brighton Housing Trust, dated 27 July 2022 about that criteria in the Library; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund is available to small to medium sized faith and community organisations with up to £5 million annual turnover who provide accommodation and support to people experiencing rough sleeping in a night shelter setting. DLUHC have utilised intelligence from the sector and knowledge gained from previous funds of this kind in forming this eligibility criteria. As detailed in the Fund's prospectus, organisations with a higher turnover may apply in specific circumstances, for example if an organisation is the only local emergency accommodation provider in a particular area.
I encourage Brighton Housing Trust to contact our sector partners Homeless Link or Housing Justice to discuss other grant funding opportunities. Brighton Housing Trust may also wish to contact their local authority partners to discuss further opportunities.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his plans to extend right to buy housing association properties, what comparative assessment he has made of the (a) difference in cost to Government of one-for-one compared to like for like replacement of each social housing property sold and (b) level of potential risk that (i) properties will be sold on to buy to let private landlords in the future and (ii) the policy will contribute to a reduction in the overall number of social homes for rent; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to the Right to Buy, which has helped nearly two million council tenants to realise their dream of home ownership.
Housing associations that took part in the Midlands pilot have 3 years to use the receipts from a sale for replacement affordable housing. Replacement is therefore still ongoing. 1,839 homes were sold between 2019 and 2021 under the Midlands Voluntary Right to Buy pilot. We are monitoring replacement of homes sold under the pilot, including through our annually published data collection.
The Prime Minister announced on 9 June 2022, the intention to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants, and that homes sold under an extended Right to Buy scheme will be replaced one-for-one.
We will be working closely with the housing association sector as we develop the scheme and will announce more details in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Evaluation of Midlands Voluntary Right to Buy Pilot, what steps he is taking to address the indication from housing associations that they will find meeting the collective commitment to one for one challenging, particularly without putting their own resources in to part-fund replacements.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to the Right to Buy, which has helped nearly two million council tenants to realise their dream of home ownership.
Housing associations that took part in the Midlands pilot have 3 years to use the receipts from a sale for replacement affordable housing. Replacement is therefore still ongoing. 1,839 homes were sold between 2019 and 2021 under the Midlands Voluntary Right to Buy pilot. We are monitoring replacement of homes sold under the pilot, including through our annually published data collection.
The Prime Minister announced on 9 June 2022, the intention to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants, and that homes sold under an extended Right to Buy scheme will be replaced one-for-one.
We will be working closely with the housing association sector as we develop the scheme and will announce more details in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many of the homes sold during the Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot have been replaced since the commencement of that scheme; what recent assessment he has made of whether the pilot will lead to a one-for-one replacement of the homes that have been sold; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to the Right to Buy, which has helped nearly two million council tenants to realise their dream of home ownership.
Housing associations that took part in the Midlands pilot have 3 years to use the receipts from a sale for replacement affordable housing. Replacement is therefore still ongoing. 1,839 homes were sold between 2019 and 2021 under the Midlands Voluntary Right to Buy pilot. We are monitoring replacement of homes sold under the pilot, including through our annually published data collection.
The Prime Minister announced on 9 June 2022, the intention to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants, and that homes sold under an extended Right to Buy scheme will be replaced one-for-one.
We will be working closely with the housing association sector as we develop the scheme and will announce more details in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment the Government has made of the impact of ending arrangements for local authorities to meet remotely or in hybrid format, as permitted under the powers granted by section 78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020, on democratic engagement by (a) councillors and (b) members of the public who are (i) disabled, (ii) clinically extremely vulnerable to covid-19 and (iii) carers for people who are disabled and clinically extremely vulnerable to covid-19; if he will make it his policy to permit local authorities to continue to meet remotely or in hybrid format on accessibility and equality grounds; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government launched a call for evidence last year to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely and enable councillors to attend meetings remotely, if necessary, on a permanent basis. The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and we will respond shortly.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 it his policy to incorporate the Community Housing Fund into the Affordable Homes Programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Support for the community led housing sector is already available through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), through which groups - or their partner organisations - registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant to support affordable housing. In addition, we are considering a range of options through which the Department may support the community-led housing sector.
The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector - which includes community land trusts and housing co-operatives - offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it will help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction and helping sustain local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through mainstream development.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the decision set out in a departmental communication to stakeholders dated 11 May 2022 not to renew the Community Housing Fund, if he will make it his policy to continue the pre-development funding that the Community Housing Fund provided, via another channel; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector – which includes community land trusts and housing co-operatives – offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it will help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction and helping sustain local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through mainstream development
We are considering a range of options through which the Department may support the community led housing sector.