Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 his Department's consultation entitled Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases, closed on 17 January 2024, whether he plans to reduce ground rents.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I would refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 23795 on 3 May 2024.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to implement section 113 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 relating to the power for local authorities to take into account a developer's previous performance when determining planning applications.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Section 113 of the Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2013 gives local planning authorities the power to decline to consider planning applications from developers who have not completed or have been to slow completing earlier residential development in their area. It is an important part of the wider package of reforms in the Act to support the faster build out of residential development. We will be consulting on the detailed implementation of this package of reforms in due course.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that his proposals to reform the nutrient neutrality regime accommodate schemes already agreed with (a) Natural England and (b) local planning authorities.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government is acting to unblock 100,000 homes and to address the underlying sources of nutrient pollution. The Government has made £280 million funding available to Natural England to enable the current approach to mitigation schemes and associated credit markets to evolve
Under the new arrangements, Natural England, DEFRA, and DLUHC will work with local authorities and third parties to deliver strategic interventions which can reduce excess nutrients and support the recovery of protected sites. This will build on current mitigation schemes and engage with the future pipeline of potential schemes, across the public, private and conservation sectors.
Our ambition is to move as quickly as possible to ensure real world environmental benefits are secured alongside new housing delivery. This means establishing a strategic approach for catchments that offsets the limited nutrients outflow from new housing at the same time as starting to restore Habitats Sites which are in a poor condition due to excess nutrients.
The expertise of local authorities and Natural England will be hugely valuable in targeting interventions to the right places, thereby maximising benefits for water quality, people, and nature.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 an assessment of the potential impact of the Renters (Reform Bill) on assured shorthold tenancies.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Renters (Reform) Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 17 May. I refer my Rt. Hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS778) and to the published guide to the Bill.
We have submitted our Impact Assessment for review by the Regulatory Policy Committee. This is a significant document and they now need time to scrutinise it. We will publish it once that process has finished. I look forward to discussing these issues during the passage of the Bill.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the timetable is for the Government's local government Fair Funding Review.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available funding for local authorities in England. On wider potential reform, The Government will bring forward its plan for the year ahead in the usual way through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.
The Government will notify and work with local partners before consulting on any potential funding changes.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government plans to make assistance with travel to UK available for refugees from Ukraine who successfully acquire a visa and match with a host under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Ukrainian beneficiaries will be eligible for a single onward journey via national rail, light rail, bus and coach, free of charge to their final destination in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).