Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 59850 on Mortgages, what the outcome was of his Department's monitoring on levels of home ownership.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Further to the answer of 18 October to Question UIN 59850, the department continues to monitor first-time buyer mortgage transactions and developments in the mortgage market. The Government also operates a range of schemes to support people into homeownership, including First Homes and Shared Ownership, as well as the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which has now been extended until the end of 2023. The Government also helps first-time buyers save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the status is of the Ellesmere Port investment zone.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As confirmed by the Chancellor at the Autumn Statement last year, the Investment Zones programme is being refocused on catalysing a limited number of high-potential growth clusters, in order to boost productivity, growth and job creation in areas that economically underperform. Further details on the programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the timetable is for the extension of the Right to Buy scheme.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which since 1980 has enabled over two million social housing tenants to become homeowners.
Any future announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on renters reforms.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average increase per annum in ground rent for all categories of property under leasehold agreement in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The department conducted an Impact Assessment for the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which reported data on the level of ground rent in England and Wales. The Impact Assessment is available on the UK Parliament website here.
The English Housing Survey reports data on leaseholder charges, including data on the level of service charges and ground rents. The report is available from the department's website here.
The 2021 report by Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research also examined leasehold charges. It is published here.
The Government has legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders from ground rents and we are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. Unfair practices have no place in the housing market. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector.
The CMA have secured commitments benefiting over 20,000 leaseholders, including commitments to return doubling ground rent terms to original rates. These settlements will help to free thousands more leaseholders from unreasonable ground rent increases. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average cost per annum of ground rent for all categories of property under leasehold agreement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The department conducted an Impact Assessment for the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which reported data on the level of ground rent in England and Wales. The Impact Assessment is available on the UK Parliament website here.
The English Housing Survey reports data on leaseholder charges, including data on the level of service charges and ground rents. The report is available from the department's website here.
The 2021 report by Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research also examined leasehold charges. It is published here.
The Government has legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders from ground rents and we are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. Unfair practices have no place in the housing market. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector.
The CMA have secured commitments benefiting over 20,000 leaseholders, including commitments to return doubling ground rent terms to original rates. These settlements will help to free thousands more leaseholders from unreasonable ground rent increases. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of new homes sold between 17 December 2019 and the introduction of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 on 30 June 2022 were leasehold properties.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Land Registry data reports that between January 2020 to June 2022, there were 66,197 new homes built that were sold as leasehold (33.7% of all new homes sold). However, Land Registry data has a reporting lag such that data on sales within the past 12 to 18 months is subject to upward revision.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on leaseholders.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The government recognises the challenge many households, including leaseholders, are facing with the cost of living. We are spending over £37 billion on support in 2022/23 to help. This includes the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), which is helping 27 million households with energy bills over the winter. The Energy Price Guarantee will also save a typical household £900 this winter by reducing, compared to the undiscounted price of energy, the amount that can be charged per unit of gas or electricity, to an annual equivalent of around £2,500 for a typical household. Support has also been provided to households through the £150 Council Tax rebate.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average annual (a) ground rent, (b) service charge, (c) administration charge and (d) other costs associated with owning a leasehold property.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The department conducted an Impact Assessment for the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which reported data on the level of ground rent in England and Wales. The Impact Assessment is available on the UK Parliament website here.
The English Housing Survey reports data on leaseholder charges, including data on the level of service charges and ground rents. The report is available from the department's website here.
The 2021 report by Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research also examined leasehold charges. It is published here.
The Government has legislated via the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to protect future leaseholders from ground rents and we are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents. Unfair practices have no place in the housing market. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector.
The CMA have secured commitments benefiting over 20,000 leaseholders, including commitments to return doubling ground rent terms to original rates. These settlements will help to free thousands more leaseholders from unreasonable ground rent increases. The CMA continue to engage with a number of firms and we urge other developers to follow suit.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the support provided by the Leasehold Advisory Service to seeking more information on cladding.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) exists to provide leaseholders and park home owners with the advice and information they need to understand their rights and responsibilities and to engage confidently with third parties like freeholders, managing agents and site owners, including on fire safety issues like cladding. LEASE continues to receive positive feedback from customers who have received advice.
The department meets with LEASE regularly as part of sponsorship oversight and this includes scrutiny of performance and financial management of LEASE's £1.9 million annual budget.