Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of (a) Section 8 and (b) Section 21 eviction notices that have been served in the last 12 months.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Mortgage and Landlord Repossession Statistics record the number of claims for possession brought by landlords in the county court in each quarter. The statistics are available here.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 it his policy to provide housing assistance to care leavers similar to that of the veterans scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Local authorities have the freedom to tailor their allocation priorities to meet the need of their local communities, including care leavers. In framing their social housing allocation scheme, they must ensure that reasonable preference (priority) is given to people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds.
Statutory guidance also makes clear that we expect local authorities to make provision for appropriate exceptions to their residency requirements for an allocation of social housing and take proper account of special circumstances, including the needs of care leavers.
The Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy confirmed £3.2 million funding in 2022/23 will provide targeted support to young people leaving care most at risk of homelessness, including rough sleeping, in 69 local authorities identified as having the greatest concentration of young people at risk. It will also provide on-going support for children’s services and housing teams to improve partnership working.
The Government will also continue investment into the ‘Staying Put’ programme and scale up the number of local areas offering the ‘Staying Close’ programme, which enable young people leaving care to stay with, or in touch with, former foster families and children’s homes for longer – building their resilience as they transition to independent living.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has published for planning authorities to ensure that high rise buildings do not experience adverse heat stress in times of excessive temperatures.
Answered by Marcus Jones
In December 2021 the Government introduced an uplift in building standards which came into force on 15 June 2022. This included a new part of the Building Regulations to reduce overheating risk in new residential buildings (Part O). Part O applies to new residential buildings, including high rise buildings. Guidance is given in Approved Document O, which can be found at the following web page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overheating-approved-document-o
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that the planning system should support the transition to a low carbon future in a changing climate. The National Model Design Code, which provides guidance on the production of local design codes, includes how new development should enhance biodiversity and green infrastructure. This references the National Framework of Green Infrastructure Standards which, when published, will provide further detail on principles to guide design.
For new non-residential buildings, guidance on limiting solar gains is set out in Approved Document L, volume 2. In workplaces, employers must provide suitable indoor workplace environment and comply with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how the provisions of Section 106 differ from the infrastructure levy proposed in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Infrastructure Levy will be a mandatory charge, set and collected locally, to largely replace the complex and discretionary section 106 regime and CIL charge. The new Levy is designed to collect more value than the existing system and will reduce the levels of protracted and costly negotiation present in the existing system.
We will be retaining section 106 for limited purposes, such as for large and complex sites. In these instances, infrastructure will be able to be provided in-kind and negotiated, but with the guarantee that the value of what is agreed will be no less than will be paid through the new Levy. This will make sure that development pays its way, and that developers cannot negotiate below what a charge to the Infrastructure Levy would have secured.
A technical consultation on the Infrastructure Levy will be published in due course.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an estimate of the level of investment in purpose-built student accommodation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department has made no such assessment. It is for local areas, through their Local Plans and in response to local needs and concerns, to determine the level of student accommodation required in their area.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy rationale is for rejecting a tenancy exemption scheme for students residing in Purpose Built Student Accommodation.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Privately managed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is distinct to the rest of the private rented sector (PRS). It caters specifically to student needs, is often restricted to housing students due to planning constraints, and it is not designed to offer long-term accommodation. Standards in privately managed PBSA are upheld by Government Codes, which outline the obligations of PBSA landlords and set benchmark standards for the accommodation they manage. Compliance with The Codes also ensures that problems or disputes can be resolved promptly if they do occur. Currently around 95% of PBSA providers are signed up to The Codes.
PBSA developments are an important part of student accommodation supply. Under our proposed reforms to the private rented sector, private PBSA providers who are signed up to a government-approved code will be exempt from assured status and therefore the new periodic tenancy system. This will make sure that PBSA can continue to provide efficiently run housing in line with the academic year for the students that choose to live there.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation being subject to periodic tenancies rather than a system that recognised building classification as defined by membership of the UUK or ANUK codes.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Privately managed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is distinct to the rest of the private rented sector (PRS). It caters specifically to student needs, is often restricted to housing students due to planning constraints, and it is not designed to offer long-term accommodation. Standards in privately managed PBSA are upheld by Government Codes, which outline the obligations of PBSA landlords and set benchmark standards for the accommodation they manage. Compliance with The Codes also ensures that problems or disputes can be resolved promptly if they do occur. Currently around 95% of PBSA providers are signed up to The Codes.
PBSA developments are an important part of student accommodation supply. Under our proposed reforms to the private rented sector, private PBSA providers who are signed up to a government-approved code will be exempt from assured status and therefore the new periodic tenancy system. This will make sure that PBSA can continue to provide efficiently run housing in line with the academic year for the students that choose to live there.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason his Department's policy is that tenants residing in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation will not be moved onto the new single system of periodic tenancies.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Privately managed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is distinct to the rest of the private rented sector (PRS). It caters specifically to student needs, is often restricted to housing students due to planning constraints, and it is not designed to offer long-term accommodation. Standards in privately managed PBSA are upheld by Government Codes, which outline the obligations of PBSA landlords and set benchmark standards for the accommodation they manage. Compliance with The Codes also ensures that problems or disputes can be resolved promptly if they do occur. Currently around 95% of PBSA providers are signed up to The Codes.
PBSA developments are an important part of student accommodation supply. Under our proposed reforms to the private rented sector, private PBSA providers who are signed up to a government-approved code will be exempt from assured status and therefore the new periodic tenancy system. This will make sure that PBSA can continue to provide efficiently run housing in line with the academic year for the students that choose to live there.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people within one year of the statutory retirement age who live in in private rented accommodation.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The most recent year of the English Housing Survey showed that there were 485,000 households with a household reference person* (HRP) aged 55-64 - the private rented sector housed 11% of households with a HRP in that age group. The private rented sector housed a further 382,000 households with a HRP aged 65 or older, accounting for 6% of households in that age group.
There is no current data on the number of people within one year of the statutory retirement age who live in the private rented sector.
*A HRP or household reference person is the person in whose name the accommodation is rented. If the property is rented jointly, it is the person in the household with the highest income.