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 his Department's research entitled the impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published June 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of that report's findings.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We will consider the report in more detail and publish our response in due course.
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 his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
All employers need to pay their staff correctly. Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it is the law. Under the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, employers who have previously broken minimum wage law can be publicly named.
The department follows a clear and thorough process allowing firms to make representations against being named if they meet our published criteria.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder.
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 the average processing time is for Voter Authority Certificate applications.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Applications for Voter Authority Certificates are processed by Electoral Registration Officers. This process involves reviewing the application and photograph and checking the applicant’s electoral registration status. Applicants must also provide their National Insurance number, which is checked against existing data sets, or other relevant documentary evidence where they are unable to provide this. Information on their average processing times is not held by the Department.
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 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
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 Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Baroness Maclean of Redditch
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 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 had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on renters reforms.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals 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, 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
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 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 cost per annum of ground rent for all categories of property under leasehold agreement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
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 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 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
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.