Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what kind of proof a landlord will be obliged to provide to prove that they intend to sell or move themselves or families back into a property, under plans to be set out in the Renters Reform Bill.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Where landlords want to use the new moving or selling grounds to seek possession, they will need to be prepared to prove their intention in a court. We will share further guidance on what evidence could be used to demonstrate their intent in due course, and will consider how to ensure this is as simple as possible while protecting tenants from unlawful eviction.
We encourage landlords to communicate with tenants about their intentions early, and share evidence where possible, to avoid unnecessary disputes about the legitimacy of eviction notices arising. Tenants may wish to request further information from their landlord or seek independent advice.
We are clear that attempts to misuse these grounds are unacceptable, and we will restrict landlords from remarketing or reletting the property within three months of using these grounds.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made (1) to inform their plans for two-month eviction periods to be set out in the upcoming Renters Reform Bill, and (2) of whether this is sufficient notice for a family with children in school to find a new home in their local area.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government is committed to delivering a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. As set out in our 'A Fairer Private Rented Sector' White Paper, the Government has committed to ending Section 21 no fault evictions. At the same time, we will reform the grounds for evictions to ensure that landlords are able to get possession of their properties when they need to, these reforms will include mandatory grounds for if a landlord wishes to sell or move into the property with two months’ notice periods. To protect tenants' security, landlords will not be able to use these grounds in the first six months of a tenancy and to prevent misuse they will not be able to relet the property in the 3 months following the end of the tenancy.
The notice period we are proposing balances the needs of both tenants and landlords, giving tenants and their families time to find a new home while ensuring landlords can manage their assets when they need to do so. However, we encourage landlords to work flexibly with their tenants and notify them of their intentions as far in advance as possible. We encourage tenants who receive notice to consider their options as soon as possible and to contact their local authority if they are at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of private renters who pay (1) energy bills, and (2) council tax, as part of their rent.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The English Housing Survey provides information on the number of private renting households who pay energy bills or council tax as part of their rent. In 2021, 162,000 households, or 3.7% of private renting households, pay their electricity bills as part of their rent; 131,000 households (3%) pay their gas bills as part of their rent; and 120,000 households (2.8%) have their council tax included as part of their rent.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the rejection of the bids from 28 of England’s most deprived areas in the first round of levelling up funding; and what plans they have to ensure that such funding reaches the most deprived areas in England.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Levelling Up Fund is a competitive fund, with funding distributed on the basis of successful project selection. In line with the Fund’s goal to bring meaningful investment to every part of the UK, at least 9% of total UK allocations will be set aside for Scotland, 5% for Wales, and 3% for Northern Ireland, subject to a suitable number of high-quality bids coming forward.
Funding is targeted towards places in England, Scotland, and Wales that are most in need of the type of investment the Fund provides, as measured by an Index of Priority Places that takes into account the need for economic recovery and growth improved transport connectivity and regeneration.
The Fund is delivered as part of a broad package of complementary UK-wide interventions to ensure all places can access the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent estimate they have made of the number of high rise buildings in the (1) public, and (2) private, sector that still have dangerous and unsuitable cladding on them.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Information on the remediation progress of high-rise (over 18 metres) residential, including private sector, and publicly-owned buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations is available (attached) in the Building Safety Programme data release.
For high-rise residential buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding, the Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund at pace so more remedial works can begin as swiftly as possible.
Information on registrations to the Building Safety Fund can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registrations-private-sector-and-social-sector.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the future of the high street towns in England outside of London.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
High streets and towns form a key part of the Government's mission to level up across the country. Now, more than ever, it is vital that we continue to help our local economies by supporting town centres and high streets to innovate, evolve and thrive.
Last year we published our vision for the future of high streets in the Build Back Better High Streets strategy. This document set out the Government's long-term plan to support the evolution of high streets into thriving places to work, visit and live.
We have gone further to set out our ambition for our towns and high streets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, published last month, through High Street Rental Auctions which will grant a permissive power to local authorities to tackle the problem of persistently vacant property on high streets and in town centres. We want to devolve power and give local leaders and communities the tools they need to make better places, and this new tool will empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use.
The Bill forms a key component of our wider programme to level up the country, as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper published in February this year. The White Paper unveiled an ambitious programme to reduce inequality and close the gap - in productivity, health, incomes, and opportunity - between much of the south east and the rest of the country.
This is all underpinned by billions of pounds Government has already committed to support economic growth and regeneration for high streets, through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund and the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, which includes support for 101 Town Deals and 72 Future High Streets Fund projects.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date the Commonhold Council last met; and what is the planned frequency of its meetings in the future.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government has established a new Commonhold Council as a partnership of industry, leaseholders and Government that will prepare homeowners and the market for the widespread take-up of commonhold. This will take time and close working with consumers and industry, and the Commonhold Council will be the critical first step of this. The Council has been convened and will continue to meet regularly over the course of this year.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the timescale for changes to commonhold arrangements in order to attract unit holders.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In 2017 the Government asked the Law Commission to recommend reforms to reinvigorate commonhold as a workable alternative to leasehold, for both existing and new homes. The Law Commission published their report on commonhold, Reinvigorating commonhold: the alternative to leasehold ownership, on 21 July 2020. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.
The Government has established a new Commonhold Council as a partnership of industry, leaseholders and Government that will prepare homeowners and the market for the widespread take-up of commonhold. This will take time and close working with consumers and industry, and the Commonhold Council will be the critical first step of this.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to reform the law in respect of existing leasehold arrangements.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.
Under the current system, too many existing leaseholders find the process for extending their lease or buying their freehold (a process known as enfranchisement) too complex, lacking transparency and prohibitively expensive.
We will reform the process of enfranchisement valuation that leaseholders must follow to calculate the cost of extending their lease or buying their freehold. The Government will abolish marriage value, cap the treatment of ground rents at 0.1% of the freehold value, and prescribe rates for the calculations at market value. The Government will also introduce an online calculator, further simplifying the process for leaseholders and ensuring standardisation and fairness for all those looking to enfranchise. These changes to the enfranchisement valuation process will result in substantial savings for some leaseholders, particularly those with less than 80 years left on their lease. Our reforms to enfranchisement valuation also ensure that sufficient compensation is paid to landlords to reflect their legitimate property interests.
Through our reforms, the length of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats) and 50 years (for houses). Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero ground rent on payment of a premium. Leaseholders will also be able to voluntarily agree to a restriction on future development of their property to avoid paying ‘development value’.
We will translate these measures into law as soon as possible, starting with the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Bill, which was introduced into Parliament on 12 May. This Bill will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by legislating to prevent landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent. This will be the first part of major two-part legislation to implement leasehold and commonhold reforms in this Parliament.
This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications with care.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to establish a unitary local authority in Devon.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is clear that any reform of an area’s local government is most effectively achieved through locally-led proposals put forward by those who best know the area, the very essence of localism to which the Government remains committed. The Government will not impose top-down Government solutions for restructuring and will continue to follow a locally-led approach for unitarisation.