Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will hold urgent discussions with representatives of financial institutions on their requirement for an EWS1 form in order to approve mortgage applications relating to low-level flats.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The External Wall System form (EWS1) and process was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to assist in the valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Not all lenders request an EWS1 form and the Government does not support a blanket approach in EWS1 use for lower risk properties. The EWS1 process should only be used where there is clear need, and where no reasonable assurances or regulatory evidence exists to support valuations. Ministers and officials continue to engage with lenders on this issue.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have been assessed as deliberately worsening their circumstances as homeless in order to obtain housing in each of the last five years.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
MHCLG collects information on households in England who are classified as intentionally homeless i.e households who have lost accommodation as a result of actions that they took or failed to take. This may include households who have given up suitable accommodation without good reason or have been evicted due to rent arrears or other breach of tenancy conditions.
The number of households who have been classified as intentionally homeless in England for the last 5 years are below:
2013/14 | 8530 |
2014/15 | 8990 |
2015/16 | 9560 |
2016/17 | 9860 |
2017/18 | 8700 |
The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why 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 Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
In its first year, the Rough Sleeping Initiative funding provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff across the country. This year we have expanded the initiative with an investment of £46 million providing funding for an estimated 2,600 bed spaces and 750 staff. £12 million of this is for areas new to the programme, bringing the total authorities funded to 246.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the change was in the level of rent arrears among public sector housing tenants between 2016 and 2018.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
MHCLG's English Housing Survey collects data on whether social renters are in rent arrears although does not collect data on the value of rent arrears. The data for the latest available year, 2016-17, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2016-to-2017-social-rented-sector.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 set a target in this Parliamentary Term for the reduction in number of long term empty properties as a result of the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Ministry’s live table 615 which is available at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes and those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.
The table can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants.
Rates of council tax charged on empty homes are a matter for individual local authorities, who will take into account local circumstances in reaching their decision. In 2018, 299 out of 326 authorities reported that they were charging a premium on some of their empty dwellings, up from 291 in 2017.
The number of long-term vacant dwellings across England remains lower than when records began.