Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring planning permission to change residential homes to short-term lets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
While short-term lets can benefit local economies, the government recognise that excessive concentrations of them impact on the availability and affordability of homes for local residents to buy and rent, as well as local services.
We are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets as well as second homes.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the extent and impact of mortgage providers rejecting mortgages for leasehold properties with ground rent over 0.1% of the sale price.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.
In addition, measures in the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which came into effect in December, will prevent long leases with grounds rents of £250 (or £1,000 in London) from repossession under provisions in the 1988 Housing Act.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
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 made an estimate of the difference in cost between the warranty and the true cost for leaseholders with major water ingress defects in their home.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Most new build warranties cover damages caused by structural defects for a 10-year term. The developer is often held accountable for the first two years of this period. The terms of warranty should give more detail on what developers would be expected to cover in this timeframe.
Where a homeowner is dissatisfied with the service given, warranty providers should have a clear complaints procedure for warranty holders to follow. This procedure should be followed in the first instance.
If this still does not resolve the issue, the next step would be to refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for a decision.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding to leaseholders with construction defects relating to roof waterproofing where the (a) developer, (b) freeholders and (c) warranty underwriter are in dispute.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Most new build warranties cover damages caused by structural defects for a 10-year term. The developer is often held accountable for the first two years of this period. The terms of warranty should give more detail on what developers would be expected to cover in this timeframe.
Where a homeowner is dissatisfied with the service given, warranty providers should have a clear complaints procedure for warranty holders to follow. This procedure should be followed in the first instance.
If this still does not resolve the issue, the next step would be to refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for a decision.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many residential buildings have been decanted due to (a) unsafe cladding and (b) other fire safety defects in each year since the passage of the Building Safety Act 2022.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Building decants arise in one of two ways – either in a planned way as part of a schedule of works or in an emergency situation due to emerging safety concerns. Not all decants are reported to the Department, particularly if they are planned. Emergency decants are a local operational matter led either by the entity responsible for the building or by local regulators. Where emergency decants are reported to uswe work with local regulators and responsible entities to ensure residents are placed at the centre of decision-making by all parties.
In the past year, 10 emergency decants related to fire safety defects have been reported to the Department. We have also collaboratively with local regulators and other parties to prevent decants from taking place and since December 2023 this work has allowed more than 6000 households to remain in their homes safely.
When local authorities take enforcement action against a mid or high-rise residential building, the Department asks the local authority to voluntarily upload details to a designated data platform. Local authorities share details of buildings subject to enforcement under powers within the 2004 Housing Act, including inspections, information gathering notices and statutory notices requiring action (such as improvement and prohibition notices). Local authorities can also share data pertaining to remediation orders and remediation contribution orders under the Building Safety Act 2022. We publish enforcement information as part of the monthly remediation data release on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce new burdens funding for local authorities associated with the passage of the Renters Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department will set out the funding we intend to make available to local authorities to meet new burdens arising from the Renters’ Rights Bill in due course.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the new Fast Track Process for Building Safety Regulator applications will be live; and what the criteria for it will be.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Innovation Unit (previously referred to as the Fast Track process) was launched on the 4th August with the majority of cases on track to meet the 13-week target. The Innovation Unit has initially been used only for new-build applications. As its capacity grows, this will be extended to other categories of application.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on when the remediation enforcement unit within the Building Safety Regulator will be set up.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The remediation enforcement unit is currently recruiting and intends to begin operations in December 2025. The purpose of this unit is to enforce compliance by holding building owners to account, accelerate remediation works and support local enforcement.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of unsafe cladding on the ability of leaseholders to sell their flats; and what steps his Department plans to take to support those leaseholders.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ten major mortgage lenders have pledged to consider lending on properties in buildings which are 11 metres or above even if there are unresolved building safety issues. The building must be in a remediation scheme, and/or the leaseholder must qualify for the protections in the Building Safety Act and have completed a ‘Leaseholder Deed of Certificate’ to evidence it. We engage with lenders to make sure they are upholding the pledge and gather supporting data.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
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 independently reviewed the most recent Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls completed by Vistry for French Court, SO14 2DZ.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has not commissioned an independent review of a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls for this building.