Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of planning control and enforcement in preventing (i) vibration and (ii) damage to neighbouring properties during construction works.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has not undertaken such an assessment.
Planning conditions can be used to mitigate the adverse effects of a development, such as vibration, where they meet the tests set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
It is for local planning authorities to consider whether it is appropriate to attach conditions to the grant of planning permission and to take any subsequent enforcement action where there is a breach of planning control on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Land Registry application processing times; and what steps she is taking to improve those times.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Improving speed of service remains the top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). It has been delivering on this objective by increasing the capacity and capability of its staff and enhancing the services its customers use. This work has been undertaken whilst continuing to deliver the essential services required to enable property transactions to complete. There has been a significant reduction in the overall age of applications in recent months, and HMLR is determined to build on this progress.
HMLR acknowledges that some customers may not yet feel the positive impact of these improvements. Anyone who is concerned that a delay with their application may cause financial, legal or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,400 expedited applications every day, with more than 95% actioned within 10 working days.
HMLR publishes information each month about its latest processing times. These can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to reopen the next round of the Community Ownership Fund for applications.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Chancellor’s July ‘Public Spending: Inheritance’ speech set out the state of the UK’s spending inheritance from the previous Government. In this context, the Chancellor has set out a path to confirming plans for this year and next at the forthcoming Budget on October 30th.
We understand that this may have caused uncertainty about the status of the Community Ownership Fund. The Government will seek to provide certainty wherever it can between now and conclusion of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of progress on reviewing the funding formula for Government funding to local authorities.
Answered by Paul Scully
This Government remains committed to ensuring that funding allocations for councils are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources. We will continue to work closely with the sector and other stakeholders to look at the challenges and opportunities facing the sector before consulting on any potential changes.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress the Government has made on building more homes.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We are committed to building 1 million homes by 2020, and 1.5 million by 2022. We have made good progress with nearly 190,000 new homes delivered in 2015/16. We have got the country building again with nearly 900,000 homes delivered since 2010 and housing supply reaching its highest level in eight years.