Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the closing of the Community Ownership Fund on local assets that previously received funding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 23 December 2024, we announced that the Community Ownership Fund (COF) is now closed and that there will be no further application windows. We took this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous government.
COF’s purpose is to bring assets that are at risk of closure into sustainable community ownership. Funding was awarded to projects to secure the long-term future of their local asset. Monies will continue to be paid to successful projects from previous windows in line with the conditions set out in their Grant Funding Agreement (GFA).
This Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and to community empowerment. The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment. There will be further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the community ownership of assets.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what role her Department has in setting (a) standards and (b) contents of training for firefighters.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is the responsibility of Fire and Rescue Authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. The Government will continue to work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.
The Fire Standards Board is chaired independently of the Government and oversees the identification, development and maintenance of fire standards for fire and rescue services in England.
The Government has accepted in principle the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a college of fire and rescue. A necessary first step will be to consult on the most appropriate functions for a college – which could, as recommended by the Inquiry, include training provision and standards – and how it could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation later in 2025. Implementing a new professional body for the fire and rescue sector would be a complex, long-term project requiring legislation and investment.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring firefighters receive suicide prevention training.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Every suicide is a tragedy, and we recognise the valuable role that firefighters play in attending these emergency incidents.
As part of the Government’s mission to reduce the lives lost to suicide we are recruiting 8,500 new mental health workers who will be specially trained to support people at risk, and we continue to back fire and rescue services to provide suicide support and training for firefighters.
Firefighters, alongside other emergency services, play an important role in attending emergency incidents relating to suicides. It is for each fire and rescue service to provide support and training for firefighters in relation to these types of emergency incidents.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with the Child Poverty Taskforce on (a) furnished tenancies and (b) the potential impact of the Decent Homes Standard on trends in the levels of furniture poverty.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.
The Deputy Prime Minister is part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy. As part of the development of the strategy, the Taskforce is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing.
People in need may be able to get help for essential furniture from their local council through the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to update the Decent Homes Standard to provide for at least 10 per cent of homes for social rent to be offered furnished.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.
The Deputy Prime Minister is part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy. As part of the development of the strategy, the Taskforce is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing.
People in need may be able to get help for essential furniture from their local council through the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of developers (a) failing to rectify defects within the statutory period and (b) those defects being excluded from warranty coverage on the finances of homeowners.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them.
The Building Safety Act extended the limitation period under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, which imposes a duty on a person providing a dwelling to see that the dwelling is fit for habitation from 6 to 30 years retrospectively and from 6 to 15 years prospectively.
The Building Safety Act also includes a robust package of measures designed to ensure that those responsible for relevant defects in relevant buildings fix them. Where remediation is needed and not progressing due to the building owner’s inaction, remediation orders can be issued to compel a building owner to fix their building.
Regarding the costs of inaction, the Building Safety Act also includes remediation contribution orders, new tools that allow interested persons, including leaseholders, to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring building owners to pay to fix unsafe buildings. A remediation contribution order can be used to require a landlord (or other specified body corporate or partnership) to make payments for the purpose of meeting costs already incurred (or to be incurred) in remedying relevant defects (or specified relevant defects) relating to the relevant building.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 prevent developers from deliberately delaying defect rectification until after the statutory liability period has expired.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them.
The Building Safety Act extended the limitation period under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, which imposes a duty on a person providing a dwelling to see that the dwelling is fit for habitation from 6 to 30 years retrospectively and from 6 to 15 years prospectively.
The Building Safety Act also includes a robust package of measures designed to ensure that those responsible for relevant defects in relevant buildings fix them. Where remediation is needed and not progressing due to the building owner’s inaction, remediation orders can be issued to compel a building owner to fix their building.
Regarding the costs of inaction, the Building Safety Act also includes remediation contribution orders, new tools that allow interested persons, including leaseholders, to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring building owners to pay to fix unsafe buildings. A remediation contribution order can be used to require a landlord (or other specified body corporate or partnership) to make payments for the purpose of meeting costs already incurred (or to be incurred) in remedying relevant defects (or specified relevant defects) relating to the relevant building.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to (a) issue guidance and (b) strengthen regulations to ensure that landlords provide (i) transparent and (ii) fair billing when reselling utilities to tenants.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Measures are already in place to protect tenants from landlords passing on inflated utility bills.
Where tenants pay their landlord for their water, rather than paying a water company directly, they are protected by Ofwat’s guidelines on water resale. This means that a reseller cannot profit from selling water and sewerage to its purchasers beyond a small admin fee of £5 a year for an unmetered bill and £10 a year for a metered one.
Similarly, Ofgem’s Maximum Resale Price Guidance protects tenants from being charged inflated gas and electricity costs by their landlord. It sets a maximum price that can be charged for gas and electricity which has already been bought from an authorised supplier. The current maximum resale price is set at the same price as paid by the person reselling, including any discounts.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 disabled people living in private rented accommodation to secure adaptations to make their homes (a) safe and (b) suitable for their needs.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. People of all ages and tenures, including in the private rented sector, can apply to their local authority for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). The DFG is a capital grant administered by local authorities in England that can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an eligible person’s home. Government has awarded an £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG for 2024-25, bringing the total funding for 2024-25 to £711 million. Government has also confirmed £711 million for 2025/26.
The Renters’ Rights Bill, currently before Parliament, will empower disabled tenants to request the home adaptations that they need and to complain if their requests are unreasonably refused. By abolishing section 21, the Bill will remove the threat of retaliatory eviction. It will also establish a new PRS Landlord Ombudsman, which will have strong powers to put things right for tenants where their landlord has failed to resolve a legitimate complaint.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she will make it her policy to require all housing developers to register with the New Homes Ombudsman Service.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government believes that existing redress mechanisms for those buying a new home are inadequate. We are therefore working with the devolved administrations to implement the statutory UK-wide New Homes Ombudsman (NHO) to investigate and resolve complaints, and will bring forward the necessary secondary legislation in due course. Once enacted all developers will be required to be a member of the statutory NHO.