Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 help protect tenants from increasing property maintenance charges.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government's position is that service charges should be transparent, communicated effectively, and there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong. That is why on 1 April, we set out a number of commitments in response to the call for evidence on 'Protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market’ to regulate and professionalise the managing agents sector. We will be establishing a working group to take this forward, which will also consider how service charges and fees should be presented to consumers and to explore the best means to challenge fees which are unjustified. As part of this work, consideration will also be given to standards around service charges and how to include them in a statutory code of practice.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent unreasonable increases in ground rents on existing leasehold properties.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Since the Government’s announcement on 21 December 2017 to limit new leases to a peppercorn rent, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy.
In addition, the Government wants to see developers and investors going further to help existing consumers with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers, and for customers to be proactively contacted. The previous Secretary of State wrote to developers about this matter, and we are monitoring the situation. We are working with stakeholders to reach out to those individuals continuing to be affected by onerous ground rents to help establish what further steps might be needed.
In addition, the Law Commission’s 13th Programme of Law Reform was published on 14 December 2017, and includes a project on Unfair Terms in Leasehold. The Law Commission has made an announcement on its work with the Department at: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/residential-leasehold-and-commonhold/
We will make further announcements in due course, and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 16 April 2018 to Question 134929 on Local Government Finance, whether the Government has provided any funding to date to (a) local authorities, (b) combined authorities and (c) elected mayors.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
In February, Parliament confirmed our settlement for local government which has provided a real terms increase in resources available to local government – £44.3 billion in 2017-18 to £45.1 billion in 2018-19. This recognises both the growing pressure on local government’s services and higher-than-expected inflation levels.
On EU Exit, we are working with local government, and other Government departments, to understand the potential impact on the sector. We will work closely with policy teams from across Whitehall to understand the impact their EU Exit policies will have on the sector, and ensure that they assess and, if appropriate, fund any potential new burdens. The upcoming Spending Review will provide an opportunity to look at funding for local government in the round.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has provided funding to (a) local authorities, (b) combined authorities and (c) elected mayors for contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Jake Berry
My Department will continue to work with local government to plan for a number of EU exit scenarios and will carefully consider the opportunities and issues which may arise. We also work closely with policy teams from across Whitehall to understand the impact their EU Exit policies will have on the sector, and ensure that they assess and, if appropriate, fund any potential new burdens. The Spending Review will provide an opportunity to look at the funding for local government in the round.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 prevent rises in leasehold ground rents.
Answered by Dominic Raab
On 21 December 2017 the Government published its response to the consultation on ‘ Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’. This set out a range of measures to cut out unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system, including introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances; and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value).
For existing leaseholders, the Government wants to see developer compensation schemes going further and faster, with support extended to all those with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers and for customers to be proactively contacted. We will be keeping a close eye on progress and will consider measures that could be pursued to take action if necessary. We have also set out work with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the number of houses sold in Leigh with leaseholds in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department is offering to residents facing substantial rises in their annual leasehold payments.
Answered by Dominic Raab
On 21 December 2017 the Government published its response to the consultation on ‘ Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’. This set out a range of measures to cut out unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system, including introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances; and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value).
For existing leaseholders, the Government wants to see developer compensation schemes going further and faster, with support extended to all those with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers and for customers to be proactively contacted. We will be keeping a close eye on progress and will consider measures that could be pursued to take action if necessary. We have also set out work with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to cap rises in leasehold payments for homeowners.
Answered by Dominic Raab
On 21 December 2017 the Government published its response to the consultation on ‘ Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’. This set out a range of measures to cut out unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system, including introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances; and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value).
For existing leaseholders, the Government wants to see developer compensation schemes going further and faster, with support extended to all those with onerous ground rents, including second hand buyers and for customers to be proactively contacted. We will be keeping a close eye on progress and will consider measures that could be pursued to take action if necessary. We have also set out work with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.