Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the potential impact of rental caps on the level of development of rental housing in Scotland.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Housing in Scotland is a devolved matter. The Government does not support the introduction of rent controls in the private rented sector which would set the level of rent. Evidence suggests that these would discourage investment and would lead to declining property standards as a result, which would not help landlords and would worsen conditions for tenants.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the impact of rental caps on the level of investment in the build-to-rent sector in Scotland.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Housing in Scotland is a devolved matter. The Government does not support the introduction of rent controls in the private rented sector which would set the level of rent. Evidence suggests that these would discourage investment and would lead to declining property standards as a result, which would not help landlords and would worsen conditions for tenants.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the trends in the number of house sales in the housing market in the last six months; and what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of property sales.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Information about property sales in the UK is published every month by HM Revenue and Customs and can be found here. We committed to improving the home buying and selling process in the Levelling Up White Paper, by working with industry to ensure that potential buyers have access to critical information in an accurate and timely digital format.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he expects his Department will provide a final response to the issue first raised in correspondence of 6th April 2022 from the hon. Member for Southport on potential breaches of the Publicity Code; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the average amount of time it takes his Department to resolve issues raised in correspondence from hon. Members.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Publicity Code is guidance to which local authorities must have regard when producing publicity, defined as “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public”. The Local Government Act 1986 gives the Secretary of State the power to issue Directions to secure compliance with one or more specified provisions of the Code, or all the provisions of the Code.
The Department has made enquiries with Sefton Council Chief Executive on this matter on two separate occasions in recent months and the Council’s responses are currently under active consideration. If and when a decision is taken to exercise the power to issue Directions that decision will be placed in the public domain in due course.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building safety to the hon. Member for Southport on 27 February, when he will provide the update promised in that letter on potential breaches of the publicity code by Sefton Council.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Publicity Code is guidance to which local authorities must have regard when producing publicity, defined as “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public”. The Local Government Act 1986 gives the Secretary of State the power to issue Directions to secure compliance with one or more specified provisions of the Code, or all the provisions of the Code.
The Department has made enquiries with Sefton Council Chief Executive on this matter on two separate occasions in recent months and the Council’s responses are currently under active consideration. If and when a decision is taken to exercise the power to issue Directions that decision will be placed in the public domain in due course.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to correspondence from the hon. Member for Southport, what assessment he has made of the extent to which a letter sent to constituents by a councillor from Sefton Council in March 2022 was compliant with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Publicity Code is guidance to which local authorities must have regard when producing publicity, defined as “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public”. The Local Government Act 1986 gives the Secretary of State the power to issue Directions to secure compliance with one or more specified provisions of the Code, or all the provisions of the Code.
The Department has made enquiries with Sefton Council Chief Executive on this matter on two separate occasions in recent months and the Council’s responses are currently under active consideration. If and when a decision is taken to exercise the power to issue Directions that decision will be placed in the public domain in due course.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure new build properties have adequate gardens that are suitable for all homeowners.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Design Guide recognises the importance of external amenity spaces. In addition, the National Model Design Code, which guides the production of local design codes, highlights that access to external private space is important for people's wellbeing and that design codes may specify the size of back gardens relative to the size or expected occupancy of the home.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that central Government funding for local authority projects is clearly declared as such by the local authority.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Government branding will be applied across all new general grant schemes, including those administered by local authorities.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to provide support for people who entered the UK under the Ukrainian sponsorship scheme and are now homeless.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The overarching homelessness prevention grant amounts £366 million for 2022/23. This encompasses all cohorts. Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.
Up to date data on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be accessed here. Details on funding for the scheme are available here. We are continuing to work with local authorities and sponsors to support them with their hosting arrangements.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans his Department has to issue funding calls targeted to coastal communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN 54542 on 19 October 2022.