Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support shared ownership leaseholders who are unable to sell their homes as a result of changes to lease terms following the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them; that the industry contributes to fixing the problem; and that leaseholders are protected in law from crippling bills for historical safety defects.
For shared owners, Schedule 8, paragraph 6(5) of the Building Safety Act provides that any contributions required towards remediation costs are capped according to the size of the share they own at the time their lease became qualified for the protections. This position does not change should a shared owner later increase their share by staircasing, including up to 100%.
The government has also introduced guidance to support shared owners who continue to face challenges due to building safety issues, including that requests to sub-let should always be accepted by registered providers of social housing in England (though where required, shared owners may also need permission from their mortgage lender and/or the building’s freeholder).
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to provide safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
This government is committed to tackling violence against women and girls and supporting victims of domestic abuse.
Since 2021, local authorities in England have a duty under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to ensure victims of domestic abuse and their children have access to support within safe accommodation. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provides funding to local authorities to deliver this duty. For 2025-26, £160 million has been allocated, a £30 million uplift from the previous year. This revenue funding is for local authorities to commission lifesaving support for victims and their children within safe accommodation. Funding for 2026/27 onwards will be a matter for the Spending Review.
Statutory guidance to local authorities is available here providing further details on how the duty should be delivered.
The current Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-2026 includes capital funding for new supply of supported housing, including domestic abuse safe accommodation. At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament, including for victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help leaseholders with (a) service charges and (b) managing agents in Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support community ownership of local assets.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 22675 on 17 January 2025.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking with (a) local councils and (b) Bromley Council to tackle homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.
We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England through the Homelessness Prevention Grant 25/26, of which £6,499,229 has been allocated to Bromley. This funding represents an uplift of £1,595,200 for Bromley compared with 24/25 allocations, an increase of 32.5%, and will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.
This brings total spend on homelessness services to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.
More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to increase the supply of affordable housing (a) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) generally.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, steps her Department is taking to help improve housing standards in the private rented sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters’ Rights Bill includes provisions that will apply a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time and ensure that local councils have proportionate and effective enforcement powers. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law into the private rented sector. We will launch a consultation this year on the content of the Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to end rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents (a) nationally and (b) in Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters’ Rights Bill will prohibit rental bidding practices.