Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Levelling Up White Paper, published by his Department on 2 February 2022, whether it is still his Department's policy to halve the number of non-decent homes in the rented sector by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to levelling up the country and tackling non-decency. The Government has committed to review the Decent Homes Standard to make sure it is fit for the present day and responses from a recent consultation on a Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector are currently being analysed. For those who live in poor quality social housing, we have introduced new legislation to improve the quality and regulation of social housing, give residents performance information so they can hold their landlord to account and ensure that when residents make a complaint, landlords take quick and effective action to put things right.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when applicants to the Faith New Deal Pilot Fund will find out if their application has been successful.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The £1 million Faith New Deal Pilot Fund focuses on strengthening engagement between national government, local government and faith groups. The fund was formally launched on 9 September 2021 and bids closed on 14 October 2021.
We received a large number of applications for the fund which are in the process of being assessed and moderated. The results will be announced in due course.
I encourage applicants to monitor the Government’s web pages for further updates: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-levelling-up-housing-and-communities.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2021 to Question 140777, when the New Homes Ombudsman is planned to be in place; and whether he plans to provide that ombudsman with the power to process complaints which arose prior to its formation.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Provision for the New Homes Ombudsman will be brought forward through the Building Safety Bill which we will introduce when Parliamentary time allows. We continue to stay in touch with the industry-led New Homes Quality Board on its plans for a voluntary New Homes Ombudsman scheme, to be in place ahead of legislation.
As there will be different requirements for developers when they are members of the New Homes Ombudsman, the legislation will not apply retrospectively. We will set out transition arrangements to the New Homes Ombudsman scheme when arrangements for the scheme are in place. Consumers will still be able to seek redress using existing routes, including through consumer codes and warranty providers.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the findings of the consultation on A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the Balance of Rights and Responsibilities Between Landlords and Tenants, which closed on the 12th October 2019.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to abolishing Section 21 through a Renters’ Reform Bill, which will enhance renters’ security. However, our collective efforts are currently focused on responding to the coronavirus outbreak.
Repealing Section 21 represents the largest change to renting in 30 years and it is only right that the reforms are taken forward in a considered manner. The Government’s consultation ‘A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the Balance of Rights and Responsibilities Between Landlords and Tenants’ sought views on the best way to provide tenants with greater security, but also ensure that landlords are able to recover their properties where they have valid reasons to do so. This balance is vital to ensuring the future supply of good quality housing in the rented sector.
We will publish a response to the consultation and bring forward a Renters Reform Bill to implement the reforms.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to regulate the growing property maintenance sector to protect leaseholders from increasingly expensive and sub-standard service.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is committed to ensuring that those living in the leasehold sector are protected from abuse and poor service.
Property agents can play an important role in the management and upkeep of buildings and protect the value of people’s homes. Currently, anyone can become a property agent regardless of their background, skills or experience. Many take a professional approach, but others do not. The Government has announced that it will regulate managing agents and introduce a single mandatory and legally enforceable Code of Practice to set standards across the sector. We will also require agents to be qualified to practise.
The Government established an independent working group of housing experts, chaired by Lord Best, to advise Government on the regulation of property agents. The working group has presented its final report to Government and we are considering its recommendations.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department have any plans to increase the powers available to Local Authorities to prevent house builders bring forward further developments where their previous developments have been found to be sub-standard.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is a priority for this Government to build more high-quality, environmentally friendly homes and residents must feel confident that their property is safe. The Government is committed to improving recourse for building defects for new build homebuyers. We will ensure a New Homes Ombudsman is established and we will require developers to belong to it. We will include provision for the New Homes Ombudsman in the Building Safety Bill.
In addition, we are taking action to improve the quality of new homes and to tackle sub-standard new housing. This includes better design through the planning system, safer homes through the biggest reform to the building safety regulatory regime and being sustainable through the Future Homes Standard. Any new home needs to meet building regulations, and local authorities can take planning enforcement action if the development differs from the plans they approved when they granted planning permission.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) quality of new build housing, (b) ability of local authorities to take action in response to poor quality new build housing developments and (c) ability of buyers purchasing new build properties to seek adequate recourse for building defects.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is a priority for this Government to build more high-quality, environmentally friendly homes and residents must feel confident that their property is safe, high-quality and sustainable. Whilst we recognise the constraints developers have on site, we expect quality to be at the heart of the new homes they deliver. We recognise that the quality of new build homes still needs to improve and Government is taking steps to ensure that new homes are better designed, safer and sustainable.
The Government has given local authorities a wide range of enforcement powers with strong penalties to tackle poor quality. However, it is for them to decide what, if any, action to take, depending on the circumstances of each case.
The Government is committed to improving new homebuyers’ recourse for building defects. We will ensure a New Homes Ombudsman is established and we will require developers to belong to it. We will include provision for the New Homes Ombudsman in the Building Safety Bill. New build homebuyers currently have access to recourse for building defects through their developers, new build warranty providers and industry-led Consumer Codes.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to extend the existing Help to Buy Scheme for people purchasing new homes, where the build completion date has been extended beyond the deadline as a result of the disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government recognises that there have been delays caused by Covid-19, resulting in some homes reserved under the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme not being built within the current scheme deadlines. Therefore, on 31st July a two-month extension was announced to the building completion deadline from 31 December 2020 to 28 February 2021. The legal completion deadline for the purchase remains 31 March 2021.
The Government also announced an extra measure to protect existing customers who have experienced severe delays as a result of coronavirus. Homes England, who administer the Help to Buy scheme, will work with those who had a reservation in place before 30 June to assess their situation and look to provide an extension where necessary. In which case, they will have until 31 May 2021 to legally complete. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/help-to-buy-scheme-extended .
Meanwhile the Government’s new Help to Buy scheme, which will replace the current scheme and is for first time buyers only, will commence on 1 April 2021 and run until March 2023. There are no plans for further extensions.
Further details on the Government's new Help to Buy Scheme can be found at: https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/equity-loan/help-to-buy-equity-loan-2021-2023/ .
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for the publication of the Future Homes Standard announced by his Department in 2019; and whether that standard will apply to the whole of the UK.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it.
We have proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of the Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.
Ahead of this, we have consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes to act as a stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard. The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February. The responses we received will be considered carefully, and a government response will be published in due course.
These matters relate to England only, as Building Regulations are a devolved matter.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential cumulative financial effecr by 2021 on the twelve local authorities in the North East of the Government's proposal to localise business rates.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.
Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities, but before the start of the financial year, local authorities in the North-East estimated that the total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £854.58 million.