Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average response time for enquiries to Home England.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The department expects Homes England to respond to all enquiries in good time, in keeping with the targets they set for their performance. While we oversee Homes England's performance overall, it is for the Homes England executive team and Board to manage operational performance including the timeframes for responding to enquiries and requests.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing specific funding to social housing providers to eradicate damp and mould in properties.
Answered by Jacob Young
Social housing providers must meet the Decent Homes Standard, which includes the requirement to keep properties free from dangerous damp and mould. The Government has been clear that they should be able to meet this standard based on the rent settlement (rental income across the sector exceeded £21 billion in 2021-22), and must prioritise repairs when making funding decisions. Government is also providing capital funding to help social landlords meet the costs of carrying out building safety remediation and making their homes more energy efficient, to support the delivery of new affordable housing as well as a £30 million fund for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands to support improvements in the quality of social housing in their area with a focus on damp and mould.
We are reviewing the Decent Homes Standard. We also introduced Awaab's Law into the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, committing to set strict time limits for social landlords to investigate and repair significant hazards in their homes, including damp and mould.
We will consult on the details of Awaab's Law shortly. The Government also published consolidated damp and mould guidance in September, setting out clearly for landlords and other housing professionals the health risks associated with damp and mould.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to develop policy relating to Investment Zones.
Answered by Jacob Young
Since publication of the policy prospectus in March, officials have been working in partnership with the eight places in England named at Spring Budget to co-develop their Investment Zone proposals. Further guidance on the co-development process, outcomes framework and wider criteria proposals need to meet was published in the Technical Document in July.
Further to the answer to Question UIN 189556 on 22 June 2023, the Government is working with the devolved administrations to deliver Investment Zones. In Scotland, Glasgow City Region and North East of Scotland were announced as Investment Zones in June. Discussions on how Investment Zones could be delivered in Wales are on-going.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 03 July to Question 191183 on Local Government: Cheshire, if he will meet with the Hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston to discuss Cheshire Devolution, as requested.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
My office will be in touch to arrange a meeting.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Westminster Hall debate on Future of the UK Constitution and Devolution on 8 March 2023, Official Report columns 131WH and 141WH, when he plans to respond to the request for a meeting to discuss Cheshire devolution.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government is committed to extending devolution across England and seeing more empowered and accountable local leaders who can drive growth, innovate, and respond to the specific challenges and needs of their areas. I met with local leaders from across Cheshire and Warrington to discuss their devolution ambitions for the region. Details of ministerial meetings are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what meetings he has held with representatives of (a) leaseholders and (b) freeholders in the last three months.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Details of ministerial meetings are published on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of people on the Homes for Ukraine scheme are being housed in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
As we set out previously, we always knew that a proportion of our arrivals on the Homes for Ukraine scheme would end up relying on LA temporary accommodation services and that’s why we provided councils with a tariff for each arrival to allow them to plan appropriately.
Data on the number of Ukrainians, including those on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, in temporary accommodation is available here.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the costs incurred to leaseholders who must now seek legal advice and include the protections afforded Building Safety Act 2022 into contractual agreements for those wishing to extent or vary their lease.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We are aware of the issue concerning leaseholder protections where leases are extended or varied, and are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as Parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, before pursuing a new lease to extend or vary an existing lease, leaseholders should seek legal advice and to come to an agreement with their landlord to apply the same protections as their existing contractual terms.
The department does not hold information on the costs likely to be incurred by leaseholders who must now seek legal advice, although many lease extensions will, in any event, involve leaseholders seeking such advice. We do expect landlords to make sure that lease extensions, and variations, reflect a qualifying leaseholder's current protections; where landlords are avoiding applying the protections as contractual terms, we are encouraging leaseholders to write to us so that we can follow this up.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he will take legislative steps to reapply the statutory leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 to leaseholders wishing to extend or vary their lease.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We are aware of the issue concerning leaseholder protections where leases are extended or varied, and are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as Parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, before pursuing a new lease to extend or vary an existing lease, leaseholders should seek legal advice and to come to an agreement with their landlord to apply the same protections as their existing contractual terms.
The department does not hold information on the costs likely to be incurred by leaseholders who must now seek legal advice, although many lease extensions will, in any event, involve leaseholders seeking such advice. We do expect landlords to make sure that lease extensions, and variations, reflect a qualifying leaseholder's current protections; where landlords are avoiding applying the protections as contractual terms, we are encouraging leaseholders to write to us so that we can follow this up.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of leases that have been (a) varied and (b) extended since 14 February 2022.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The information requested is not held by DLUHC.