Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what regeneration funding she is making available for (a) Newport, (b) Shifnal and (c) other rural market towns.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government confirmed its commitment to regeneration funding at the Autumn Budget securing millions of pounds to support economic growth across the UK – our number one mission. This included £3.5 million through the UKSPF to continue to support communities across Shropshire.
The government will set out a refreshed approach to local growth funding at the multi-year Spending Review in the Spring. An approach that includes supporting rural businesses, improving infrastructure, and enhancing local economies, with a focus on areas most in need.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 require housing developers to promptly complete remedial works required to new build properties after completion.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Most new build warranties cover damages caused by structural defects for a 10-year term. The developer is often held accountable for the first two years of this period. The terms of warranty should give more detail on what developers would be expected to cover in this timeframe, but generally this will cover most aspects of workmanship carried out by the developer.
New build homeowners can also contact the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) (Homepage (nhqb.org.uk) if they are dissatisfied with the standards of conduct or quality of work in their new build homes. While the scheme is currently voluntary for developers, just over half of all developers have signed up. The full register of developers is held on the NHQB website.
New build homeowners can also contact a consumer code scheme provider if their developer has signed up to one. There are several codes, the largest of which is the Consumer Code for Home Builders. The code the developer signs up to is determined by the warranty provider. The consumer code scheme provider will handle complaints about the conduct or workmanship of a developer, provided that the developer is a member of the relevant code.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 undertake a review of the estate agency sector to assess the effectiveness of existing legislation on ensuring (a) transparency in pricing, (b) accurate descriptions of properties and (c) bans on rogue (i) lettings and (ii) sales agents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents.
Legislation is currently enforced by National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents.
The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group chaired by Lord Richard Best to advise them on how best to do it.
However, they failed to respond to the recommendations set out in the working group’s 2019 Regulation of Property Agents: working group report which can be found on gov.uk here.
Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future. As a result, we are looking again at the 2019 report.
We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 reinstate the four percent funding floor for Core Spending Power growth for Shropshire.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The current fiscal environment means the government cannot continue the poor value for money 4% Funding Guarantee. The government assesses that it does not use every pound of taxpayers' money most efficiently and that is it targeted on a transparent basis.
However, we will guarantee that no local authority sees a reduction in their Core Spending Power in 2025-26, after taking into account the increase in council tax levels, by applying a funding floor.
This will provide the protections required for authorities to sustain their services between years, whilst recognising that we must begin the process of redirecting as much funding as possible towards the services and places that need it most.
The government is making good on the promise to reform the local government funding system, and is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February).
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 reinstate the Rural Services Delivery Grant in the next local government financial settlement for Shropshire.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. However, the Rural Services Delivery Grant did not properly account for need and a large number of predominantly rural councils receive nothing from it – that’s clearly not right and a sign we need to allocate funding more effectively.
The 25-26 Settlement will deliver on our commitment by ensuring that places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase.
The government is keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer term consultations on local authority funding reform.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 an assessment of the potential impact of allowing tenants in rented properties on working farms to have pets on (a) farm safety and (b) biosecurity.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters' Rights Bill requires landlords not to unreasonably withhold consent when a tenant requests to have a pet in their home, with the tenant able to challenge a decision. The government will issue detailed guidance in due course to help landlords and tenants understand the new rules.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he expects the next Community Ownership Fund bidding round will open.
Answered by Jacob Young
We will announce the timings of the next bidding window in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will introduce a low interest deposit scheme for people seeking entry-level rental accommodation in the private sector.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Government does not have plans to introduce a low interest deposit scheme for the private rented sector. Local authorities may offer deposit guarantee or bond schemes to people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness.
Councils can choose to use Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) or Homelessness Prevention Grant funding to provide rent deposits for people in financial difficulties.
Since 2011 the government has provided almost £1.7 billion in DHP funding to local authorities and is investing over £1 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years (2023-2025) including a £109 million top up for 2023/2024.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will issue guidance to local authorities on the potential fire risks of battery energy storage sites in close proximity to (a) residential and (b) commercial buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In August of this year the Government updated its Planning Practice Guidance to encourage battery storage developers to engage with Local Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) before submitting a planning application, so that issues of the siting and location of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are dealt with before the application is made.
The guidance also encourages local planning authorities to refer to the guidance on BESS published by the National Fire Chiefs Council for consideration when determining applications and to consult with FRSs before issuing decisions.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of GDPR rules for sharing data between local authorities on the (a) services provided to and (b) risks faced by vulnerable people (i) during and (ii) since the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Simon Hoare
Authorities are responsible for managing their own data and taking the relevant actions to protect information securely. The Information Commissioner provides guidance for public bodies.