Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether environmental standards in investment zones will be maintained at the same level as standards outside of those zones.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The published expression of interest guidance has been clear that applications which refuse to commit, in principle, to mitigate environmental impacts on or off site will not proceed. Further details will follow in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 plans to put in place a mechanism for developers and local authorities to agree the number of social homes which will be required as part of a development in an investment zone.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The policy of Investment Zones is at an early stage of development, with councils having been asked to express their interest in the concept at this stage only. Published guidance can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investment-zones-in-england-expression-of-interest#:~:text=You%20must%20complete%20the%20EOI,support%20for%20the%20local%20economy. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of investment zones on affordable homes.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The policy of Investment Zones is at an early stage of development, with councils having been asked to express their interest in the concept at this stage only. Published guidance can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investment-zones-in-england-expression-of-interest#:~:text=You%20must%20complete%20the%20EOI,support%20for%20the%20local%20economy. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to increase the threshold at which developers must build affordable housing within investment zone.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The policy of Investment Zones is at an early stage of development, with councils having been asked to express their interest in the concept at this stage only. Published guidance can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investment-zones-in-england-expression-of-interest#:~:text=You%20must%20complete%20the%20EOI,support%20for%20the%20local%20economy. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of homes that will be built across all Investment Zones by 2025.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The underlying purpose of Investment Zones is to work with local partners to deliver quicker. To do that, we first need to understand what proposals local authorities have for this hence the expression of interest process which recently closed.
Responses are now being analysed and such analysis needs to be completed before any announcements can be made.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the proposal by the Mayor of London to seize properties owned by Russian oligarchs.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is already taking action against the billions of pounds worth of UK property accumulated by the Russian state-linked individuals and companies. We have frozen the assets of those individuals on the sanctions list and are taking further steps on land ownership transparency through the Economic Crime Bill. We will set out details in due course. If the Mayor of London wants to make further suggestions via his office, he is welcome to get in touch with my officials.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are committed to increasing the supply of affordable homes and are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing. This is the largest investment in affordable housing since 2010.
This includes our new Affordable Homes Programme which will provide up to 180,000 affordable homes, should economic conditions allow.