Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on access to fixed charges for retirees living in housing-with-care.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise that some specialist retirement housing providers have distinct operational and financing arrangements, and we value the important contribution that this sector makes to supporting older people.
We want to ensure providers can continue to operate effectively and with confidence.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278), we will consider through the scrutiny and consultation process whether particular arrangements may be appropriate for certain forms of specialist provision.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on private investment in the supply of housing-with-care for older people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise that some specialist retirement housing providers have distinct operational and financing arrangements, and we value the important contribution that this sector makes to supporting older people.
We want to ensure providers can continue to operate effectively and with confidence.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278), we will consider through the scrutiny and consultation process whether particular arrangements may be appropriate for certain forms of specialist provision.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the arrangements between local planning authorities and advisory Lead Local Flood Authorities on decision making in the planning system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) are statutory consultees within the planning system and provide expert advice on surface water drainage for major planning applications, supporting local planning authorities in the decision-making process.
Local planning authorities must take into account comments raised by LLFAs when determining whether to grant planning permission.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure accountability for flood risk considerations in the planning process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 81948 on 14 October 2025.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the accessibility of specialist housing-with-care to older people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 61360 on 30 June 2025, UIN 61666 on 30 June 2025, UIN 59953 on 23 June 2025, and UIN 40972 on 1 April 2025.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect (a) freehold property owners and (b) freehold property owners in new build housing estates from high maintenance fees.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government remain committed to protecting residential freeholders on private and mixed-tenure housing estates from unfair charge
We will consult this year on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act’s new consumer protection provisions for the up to 1.75m homes that are subject to these charges, and bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager.
The government is also determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will consult next year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 37889 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increased insurance premiums due to cladding on the finances of leaseholders in buildings under 11 metres in height.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not hold information on insurance premiums for buildings under 11 metres in height. However, insurers should offer affordable premiums in line with risk, where life safety fire risk is generally proportional to the height of buildings. The department has been examining buildings under 11 metres on a case-by-case basis. To date, we have only identified a small number of under 11 metre buildings that require cladding remediation works. In the rare cases where remediation work is required, the department has engaged the relevant developers in conversations about funding these works so that leaseholders do not pay. Regardless of the height of the building, the responsibility for the costs of fixing such defects should rest with building owners, and not leaseholders.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) adequacy of the pace of the existing system for identifying and remediating dangerous cladding and fire safety issues; and what steps she is taking to accelerate the process.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government has been clear that the pace on remediation has been too slow. Seven years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it is unacceptable that so many buildings still have unsafe cladding.
We have announced a step change towards addressing the building safety crisis through the publication of our ambitious Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP). Our plan will drive the pace of remediation through new proposed legal duties and powers, new funding, new resources and new partnerships.
In December 2024, the Remediation Acceleration Plan was launched. We recognise that the scale and importance of the challenge is so significant that we expect to publish a further update on this plan in summer 2025 to report on progress and to reflect the second phase of the spending review.
Through this plan, we aim that by the end of 2029 all 18m+ (high-rise) buildings with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme will have been remediated. Furthermore, by the end of 2029, every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or the landlords will be liable for severe penalties.
We are also driving pace and effectiveness through existing funding schemes. The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) was launched in 2023 to help fund work to address unsafe cladding for buildings between 11-18 metres, as well as those over 18 metres outside London, but has since been expanded to include all government funded remediation projects outside London. The benefits of transferring buildings to this scheme include increased pace through the use of automated processes, better experience for residents, and greater cost effectiveness. We are continuing to seek opportunities to exploit the benefits of the CSS further.