Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has any grant funding schemes in place to help local authorities meet the cost of providing more authorised sites for travellers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government encourages local planning authorities to increase the number of traveller sites in appropriate locations and are supporting efforts through the new Affordable Homes Programme. Local authorities, and social housing providers can bid for funding through the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 which will leverage up to £38 billion of private and public investment, and includes funding for permanent traveller sites and transit sites.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that the National House Building Council guarantee for new builds is fit for purpose; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that all new builds are approved and signed off by local authority officers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is the responsibility of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate new build warranties and protect consumers. If a consumer is unhappy with the warranty provider’s action, they can contact the Financial Ombudsman Services and raise a complaint for free.
The Building Safety Regulator will be responsible for oversight of the competence and performance of building control professionals and the building control bodies in which they work, taking a wider view of the professionalism and culture that needs to support building safety in all classes of work, not just in-scope buildings. To do this, we are introducing a system of oversight of the performance of building control bodies (Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors), and a system of individual registration based on competence and adherence to a code of conduct, all overseen by the Building Safety Regulator.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to protect leaseholders from unreasonable charges when they seek to extend the lease on their property; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.
Through our reforms, the length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses). Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. Leaseholders will also be able to voluntarily agree to a restriction on future development of their property to avoid paying ‘development value’.
The Law Commission’s report on enfranchisement includes recommendations relating to lease extensions, including payment of costs incurred by this process and the terms of the new lease. We will bring forward a response to these and the other remaining Law Commission recommendations in due course.