Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to facilitate greater involvement of architects in the development stage of new housing schemes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
National planning policy makes clear that local authorities should prepare their own local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code, which can define what well-designed new development means in their local area.
The NPPF and supporting National Design Guide and National Model Design Code emphasise that effective engagement between local authorities, communities, applicants and other interests, such as architects, throughout the design process, including the preparation of design codes, is helpful to achieving well designed and sustainable new development.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure standards of (a) quality and (b) sustainability in new housing developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government legislated through the Building Safety Act 2022 to provide for a statutory New Homes Ombudsman and accompanying Code of Practice that set out expectations of scheme members around standards of conduct and standards of quality of work.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's workplan for a technical review of the fire safety guidance provided in Approved Document B, when he plans to publish an update on progress of the trigger heights and thresholds workstream.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Technical Review of Approved Document B was published on 6 June 2022. Research on the property protection workstream has been completed; research commissioned under the trigger heights and thresholds workstream is nearing completion. Government will consider findings and will publish the research and an update on the workstream in due course.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference his Department's workplan for a technical review of the fire safety guidance provided in Approved Document B, when he plans to publish an update on progress of the property protection workstream.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Technical Review of Approved Document B was published on 6 June 2022. Research on the property protection workstream has been completed; research commissioned under the trigger heights and thresholds workstream is nearing completion. Government will consider findings and will publish the research and an update on the workstream in due course.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether (a) National Development Management Plans, (b) local development plans and (c) the National Planning Policy Framework have planning primacy under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The proposals set out in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill mean that planning applications would in future be decided in accordance with policies contained in the development plan for the area, and any applicable National Development Management Policies, unless material considerations strongly indicate otherwise.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of adults aged under 25 in England who live in housing that is overcrowded.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The English Housing Survey provides our best estimates of the conditions, circumstances, and energy efficiency of the English housing stock. The report is available online here.
The department does not publish breakdowns of estimates of overcrowding by age of household reference person.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of adults aged under 25 in England who live in housing that is classified by his Department as a non-decent home.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The English Housing Survey provides our best estimates of the conditions, circumstances, and energy efficiency of the English housing stock. The report is available online here.
The department does not publish breakdowns of estimates of overcrowding by age of household reference person.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of adults aged under 25 in England who spend more than one third of their net income on housing costs.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The English Housing Survey provides our best estimates of the conditions, circumstances, and energy efficiency of the English housing stock. The report is available online here.
The department does not publish breakdowns of estimates of overcrowding by age of household reference person.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to offer additional funding to organisations supporting the homeless, in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 84910, on 21 November 2022.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the vulnerability of social housing stock to overheating; and what steps he is taking to ensure social housing is (a) designed and (b) retrofitted to enable passive cooling in high temperatures.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2021 the Government introduced a new overheating requirement in the Building Regulations to reduce the risk of overheating in all new residential buildings, including new social housing. These regulations came into force in June 2022 and will mean that all new residential buildings must be designed in such a way as to reduce overheating.
Social Housing providers have a responsibility to ensure that all social homes have a "reasonable degree of thermal comfort" through "efficient heating and effective insulation" as well as "adequate ventilation", as part of their requirement to meet the Decent Homes Standard.