Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 has taken recent steps to increase the construction of (a) social housing and (b) affordable homes in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The provision of affordable housing is part of the government's plan to build more homes and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the housing ladder.
Since 2010, we have delivered over 632,600 new affordable homes, including over 441,612 affordable homes for rent, of which over 162,800 homes for social rent. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver tens of thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.
The Levelling Up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.
The department records funding allocation for this programme on a regional basis. As of the end of November 2022 a total of £3.4 billion had been allocated to contractors in London from the 2021-2026 Programme, while a total of £289,409,600 was allocated to the North East.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with letting agencies on the use of zero deposit schemes.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, letting agents cannot require tenants to meet any conditions that could only be met by paying a fee for a third-party service including requiring the tenant to use a deposit replacement product.
Enforcement of the prohibitions under the Tenant Fees Acts sits with National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency.
Deposit replacement products can offer flexibility and remove barriers to securing a tenancy for tenants who would otherwise struggle to fund an upfront cash deposit. We are keeping the impact and risks of deposit alternatives under review, including their affordability, accessibility, and the way they are sold.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Local Government Association on local authority budgets.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Ministers and officials from the Department regularly meet with the Local Government Association and other sector representatives to discuss local authority budgets. Details of external ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Ukrainian refugees on (a) the Ukraine Family Scheme and (b) Homes for Ukraine Scheme visas who have (i) become homeless and (ii) presented as homeless to their local authority since moving to the UK.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Homelessness management information pertaining to Ukrainian nationals in England is updated on gov.uk every 4 weeks. The most recent update includes data up to 23 September 2022. A total of 1,915 Ukrainian households have been owed a homelessness prevention or relief duty, based on a response rate of 71% of local authorities. Of this figure, 850 households arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 955 households via the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. Further information can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-management-information-ukrainian-nationals-england.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Ukrainian refugees with Ukraine Family Scheme visas who have become homeless since arriving in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Homelessness management information pertaining to Ukrainian nationals in England is updated on gov.uk every 4 weeks. The most recent update includes data up to 23 September 2022. A total of 1,915 Ukrainian households have been owed a homelessness prevention or relief duty, based on a response rate of 71% of local authorities. Of this figure, 850 households arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 955 households via the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. Further information can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-management-information-ukrainian-nationals-england.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 funding of £10,500 per person which the Government provides to councils for Homes for Ukraine, what recent assessment her Department has made of the way in which council are spending that funding, and what conditions are placed on that funding.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The £10,500 tariff funding per guest is paid for the first year of a guest's time in the UK
This payment is expected to cover key local council services in support of the scheme, including:
- Initial reception
- Safeguarding check
- Interim £200 payment per guest
- Service referrals
- Homelessness assistance
- Community Integration
- Administering payments to sponsors
The £200 subsistence payment is provided by councils to each Ukraine guest on arrival which does not need to be repaid.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether new hosts who offer as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme to accommodate Ukrainians who have previously stayed with another host as part of that scheme will be entitled to receive the full 12 months of thank you payments; and whether there are deductions on the amount of those payments new hosts are eligible for arising from payments made to the previous host.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Thank you payments to hosts are available for the first 12 months of a guest's time in the UK. If you continue to host beyond 6 months or enter into a rematch arrangement, you are eligible to receive thank you payments, for the remaining months up to the 12-month mark. We will continue to closely monitor and review the support offered to both hosts and guests under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people who receive the single person's Council Tax discount and who sponsor refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to continue receiving that discount beyond the initial 12 month period if they continue hosting Ukrainian refugees.
Answered by Paul Scully
Persons arriving under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are disregarded for the purposes of determining whether a council tax discount is available to the household in which they live. In situations where a person holding a Homes for Ukraine immigration permission lives with a host rent free, who would otherwise live on their own, the host will still be entitled to a 25% single person discount.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support will be available to Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme after the end of the initial six month period for which sponsors were asked to host.
Answered by Paul Scully
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 46219 on 21 September 2022.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 include landlords who own more than one property in his Department's plans to finance cladding removal.
Answered by Paul Scully
Landlords who own more than one property in buildings eligible for the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund (PSCRF) or the Building Safety Fund (BSF) can benefit from funding to make building safe. Further details on the funding scheme for buildings between 11 metres and 18 metres will be announced in due course.