Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 second part of the Government’s leasehold reform legislation to be brought forward.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to creating a fair and just housing system that works for everyone. We will be taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 will come into force on 30 June. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent
This is the first part of seminal 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 and impacts with care.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of amending the Party Wall Act 1996 to compel homeowners undertaking works subject to the Act to serve a party wall notice.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Anyone intending to carry out any of the works mentioned in section 2 of the Party Wall Act 1996, must inform all adjoining owners. The Act contains no enforcement procedures for failure to serve a notice. If work starts without a notice being given, an adjoining owner can seek to stop the work through a court injunction or seek other legal redress.
The Department has not carried out an assessment of the average legal costs of pursuing a civil court injunction to enforce compliance with the Act or the potential merits of amending the Act. The Act provides for surveyors to be paid the reasonable costs of drawing up an award. However, if the building owner or the adjoining owner feels that a surveyor’s costs are unreasonable, they may ask for a breakdown of costs, e.g. the hourly rate and number of hours of time being charged for.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 (a) average legal costs of pursuing a civil court injunction to enforce compliance with the Party Wall Act 1996 and (b) extent to which those costs prohibit homeowners from reaching a resolution.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Anyone intending to carry out any of the works mentioned in section 2 of the Party Wall Act 1996, must inform all adjoining owners. The Act contains no enforcement procedures for failure to serve a notice. If work starts without a notice being given, an adjoining owner can seek to stop the work through a court injunction or seek other legal redress.
The Department has not carried out an assessment of the average legal costs of pursuing a civil court injunction to enforce compliance with the Act or the potential merits of amending the Act. The Act provides for surveyors to be paid the reasonable costs of drawing up an award. However, if the building owner or the adjoining owner feels that a surveyor’s costs are unreasonable, they may ask for a breakdown of costs, e.g. the hourly rate and number of hours of time being charged for.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) challenges disabled (i) renters and (ii) buyers face on the private housing market and (b) adequacy of support available to disabled people in finding suitable properties with accessible features.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Government is committed to helping disabled and older people to live independently and safely. People of all ages and all tenures can apply to their local authority for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is a capital grant administered by local authorities in England that can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an eligible person’s home. Since 2010 Government has invested over £4 billion into the DFG (2010-11 to 2021-22), delivering an estimated 490,000 home adaptations. We have developed a range of consumer guides to help make buying, selling and renting more straightforward to navigate.
Government consulted on options to raise the accessibility of all new homes, recognising the importance of suitable homes for disabled people. We are currently considering responses and will publish a government response and set out next steps in due course.