Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken for Gateway (a) 2 and (b) 3 approvals under the Building Safety Regulator; and if he will provide additional support for (i) manufacturers and (ii) contractors whose businesses are affected.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has established a dedicated external remediation team who assess all building control approval applications for cladding remediation. The team is already delivering engagement events to improve developers’ understanding of the requirements, and therefore increase the quality of applications and approval rates.
The BSR is also in the process of establishing a remediation enforcement unit, to oversee escalations from government/partner regulators where remediation is not progressing quickly enough. The unit will have access to additional, dedicated resources for building control work to deal with the increasing demand, and to help increase the pace of remediation works.
We recognise that delays in assessing Gateway approval applications are unacceptable, which is why we announced reforms on 30 June including carving out the BSR from the Health and Safety Executive and establishing the Regulator as a standalone body with a clear focus on building safety.
The BSR is already making operational and policy changes to speed up decision making, particularly on building control approval, including through the introduction of an Innovation Unit. Early signs are positive with all applications in the Innovation Unit so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA as they progress through the application process.
In addition to this, BSR has initiated a new approach of batching applications so they can be processed by multidisciplinary teams formed by Registered Building Control Approvers with oversight from BSR.
The BSR is continually improving the suite of guidance that supports those with duties in understanding what the law requires of them and how they can comply. New guidance with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has been published to help applicants better understand what’s needed for a successful submission.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps has she taken to ensure (a) fairness and (b) transparency in the allocation of social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local housing authorities set their own allocation schemes, governed by a legal framework set by central government. This allows councils to design schemes in a way that best meets local needs.
Local housing authorities must publish a summary of their allocation scheme and ensure that advice and information is available free of charge to everyone in their area about the right to apply for an allocation of accommodation.
Applicants have the right to information that will enable them to assess how their application is likely to be treated under the authority’s allocation scheme, including whether they are likely to fall within any of the priority categories and whether accommodation appropriate to their needs is likely to be made available.
Allocation schemes must also be framed so as to give applicants the right to be informed of certain decisions and the right to review certain decisions.
To ensure that the most vulnerable in society can access the housing support they need, this government has exempted domestic abuse victims and young care leavers, alongside veterans, from local connection tests to facilitate their access to social housing. We will be updating statutory guidance to reflect these changes and will keep this guidance under review.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to encourage (a) private car park operators and (b) retailers to ensure that parent and child parking bays are properly (i) monitored and (ii) enforced.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Provision of parking spaces and management of parking facilities on private land is a matter for private landowners and parking operators, where those are employed. Whilst private landowners and parking operators can provide dedicated parking bays for parents with children, any rules about their use will be enforced by the retailers themselves or private parking firms contracted to manage these spaces.
Where such bays exist, their misuse can attract a notice of a parking charge of up to £100. However, to issue a notice of parking charge private landowners or parking operators have to be a member of the DVLA accredited parking trade association and adhere to the industry Code of Practice. Among other things, this Code of Practice requires to clearly set out parking terms and conditions on signage within car parks.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
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 steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase funding for social housing in the next Spending Review in the context of levels of homelessness.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 30393 on 24 February 2025 for more detail on the steps we have already taken to increase social and affordable housebuilding.
We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
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 help tackle unaffordable rent increases.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
The Bill also prohibits rental bidding practices and landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that green spaces are adequately designed to (a) tackle climate challenges, (b) support water availability and (c) increase flood resilience.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that the planning system should take full account of all climate impacts, including water scarcity and flood risk.
Planning should help to shape places in a way that minimises vulnerability and improves resilience to the effects of climate change though suitable adaptation measures, including through incorporating green infrastructure and sustainable drainage systems.
The government provides design guidance through the National Design Guide (NDG) and National Model Design Code (NDMC) which support the National Planning Policy Framework. The department intends to update this guidance in Spring 2025.
Natural England have also published The Green Infrastructure Framework and accompanying Design Guide in February 2023. This can be used to support local planning authorities and developers to design and create more nature-rich urban greenspaces.