Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of the new-build sector in relation to snagging issues.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is vital that as housing supply increases, the quality of new build homes improves. We expect all housing developers to deliver good quality housing, to deliver it on time, and to treat house buyers fairly.
We know more needs to be done to strengthen consumer redress for purchasers of new build homes, we announced our intention for there to be a New Homes Ombudsman to protect the rights of homebuyers and hold developers to account.
When Parliamentary time allows, we intend to introduce legislation to require developers of new build homes to belong to a New Homes Ombudsman, which will be underpinned in statute.
We will consult on the detail of the proposed legislation to statutorily underpin a New Homes Ombudsman. This will include the approval mechanisms and standards that a New Homes Ombudsman must meet as well as whether a Code of Practice for developers should also be underpinned in legislation.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average cost of renting a property for people under the age of 25 in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Department collects information on the cost of renting in the English Housing Survey. In 2015-16, the latest period for which figures are available, the average weekly cost of renting a property in the private rented sector for those aged 16-34 was £190 per week and the average rent in the social rented sector for those aged 16-34 was £101. The Department does not publish estimates for those aged under 25.
These figures can be found in the 2015-16 English Housing Survey housing costs and affordability report: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2015-to-2016-housing-costs-and-affordability
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what financial assistance he plans to provide to local authorities to support their investigations into the safety of cladding on all properties.
Answered by Lord Sharma
My Department has made clear that building owners are responsible for funding fire safety measures. Government will consider financial flexibilities for local authorities who need to undertake essential fire safety work to make a building safe. Housing associations that are concerned about their ability to meet these costs should contact the social housing regulator.
We are also providing financial support to local authorities for collecting and reporting data on cladding on high rise private residential buildings, which we recognise as a New Burden.