Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the (a) level and (b) risk of homelessness among young people.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping, including for young people. The Homelessness Reduction Act came into force last year. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness irrespective of whether a person has ‘priority need’ or may be regarded as being ‘intentionally homeless’, which of course includes young people. Last year we also updated guidance on the ‘Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17-year-old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation’ setting out the respective duties of children’s services and housing services.
The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Rough Sleeping Strategy committed to creating a new social impact bond, the Young Futures Fund. This builds on the success of the Fair Chances Fund which ran from 2015-2017 and rehoused 1657 18-24 year old's who were or at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether solar panels installed on domestic properties have a right to light protection under planning legislation.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
I would like to refer the Hon. Member to the Government’s response to UIN141851 of 20 May. The Government believes that sufficient protection is already afforded to existing solar arrays by the planning system which can take into account whether a proposed development would have an unreasonable impact on the light enjoyed by neighbouring properties, in terms of its impact on living conditions.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) environmental and social impact of residents making their private parking spaces available for hire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department does not assess the extent to which individual members of the public rent out their driveways. The Department has given local authorities the tools through the planning system to take action if there are significant planning concerns such as public nuisance to the local residents and community.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of compliance with Part M of the building regulations for (a) dwellings and (b) non-dwellings (i) nationally and (ii) in each local authority area.
Answered by Lord Barwell
My Department has made no recent assessment of compliance with Part M of the Building Regulations. Compliance checking is undertaken by local authorities or private sector Approved Inspectors. However, the English Housing Survey includes information on the proportion of homes built with accessible features. It shows how “visitability” is much higher in homes built from 2001 onwards (when Part M began to have an impact) compared to those built before 2001. Also, my department has commissioned research into the effectiveness of the statutory guidance, which supports the requirements of Part M for new domestic buildings.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes for social rent.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are committed to delivering 275,000 affordable homes by 2020. This will be the fastest rate of affordable house building in the last 20 years.
The Affordable Homes Programme is open and receiving bids. We have already allocated £1 billion.