Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the finding of Solace Women’s Aid’s report entitled Violence against women and girls, housing and homelessness: A joined up strategy, that 70 per cent of women who have experienced domestic violence also have a housing need, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the shortage of suitable long-term housing for domestic abuse survivors.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
It is critical that victims of domestic abuse get support, especially when they are in housing need. In May 2020 the Government announced its intent to give those who are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse priority need for accommodation secured by the local authority. This will be achieved through the Domestic Abuse Bill and will help to ensure victims do not remain with their abuser for fear of not having a roof over their head.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation for households in priority need and owed the main homelessness duty until suitable long-term accommodation can be offered to them. Housing authorities have a continuing obligation to keep the suitability of accommodation under review, and to respond to any relevant change in circumstances which may affect suitability.
The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help leaseholders secure a low interest rate on loans taken to cover fire safety costs.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has announced a globally unprecedented investment in building safety and hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of remediating unsafe cladding from their homes. Lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres will gain new protection from the costs of remediating dangerous cladding through a long-term, low interest, government backed financing scheme.
The Government is conscious of the need to make any financing scheme affordable for leaseholders. That is why we have said that the financing scheme will have a £50 a month cap. Now that the financing solution has been announced, we will publish more details on how it will work as soon as is feasible.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the statutory guidance accompanying the Domestic Abuse Bill will make clear that housing officers should accept evidence from specialist services as proof of homelessness when they assess applications from women made homeless by domestic abuse.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
It is critical that victims of domestic abuse get support, especially when they are in housing need, and that local authority housing officers are aware of the risks victims of domestic abuse face and know how to support them appropriately.
The published draft statutory Homelessness Code of Guidance, which will accompany the Domestic Abuse Bill, makes clear that with consent from the applicant, housing authorities can seek evidence from friends and relatives of the applicant, social services, health professionals, representatives from Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences, a domestic abuse support service or the police, as appropriate.
This is not an exhaustive list and housing officers should exercise their judgement in determining how to obtain the necessary supporting evidence in each case. The guidance is also clear that local authorities should ensure their enquiries do not provoke further violence or abuse, and that they should not approach the alleged perpetrator.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on removing VAT from fire safety works for leaseholders affected by materials deemed unsafe after the Grenfell tragedy.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 171625 on 23 March 2021.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how his Department plans to ensure that loans taken out by leaseholders living in block affected by cladding-related issues are capped at £50 per month for repayments.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government will fund the removal and placement of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres. In buildings of 11-18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, leaseholders will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal through a financing scheme so that leaseholders will never pay more than £50 a month. We will be publishing further details of the financing scheme.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for decisions to be made on applications for loans made by leaseholders living in blocks affected by cladding-related issues; and what plans he has to implement an appeals process for leaseholders declined a loan.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have announced an unprecedented multi-billion investment to protect hundreds of thousands of leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes. Now that the significant increase in Government funding and the financing solution have been announced, we will publish more details on how these will work as soon as is possible.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the loans for leaseholders in buildings affected by cladding-related issues will be introduced; and when the application process for those loans will open.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are working swiftly to launch the scheme as soon as is feasible and will publish more details on how it will work.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on zero-rating VAT on fire safety works for anyone retrospectively required to undertake fire safety works on buildings that met regulations when completed.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes as part of the Government’s five-point plan to provide reassurance to homeowners and build confidence in the housing market.
An additional £3.5 billion in funding to remediate unsafe cladding will be provided, bringing the total Government investment in building safety to an unprecedented £5.1 billion. Funding will be targeted at high-rise residential buildings in line with longstanding independent expert advice and evidence on risk.
Lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal through a long-term, low interest, Government backed financing scheme. No leaseholder in this scheme will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding. To ensure the largest property developers pay their fair share, we are also introducing a developer levy and a new tax. Together we anticipate that will raise at least £2 billion over a decade.
I can confirm there have been no discussions to date on the particular issue raised. Problems with cladding and other fire safety defects are typically as a result of a failure to comply with building regulations. Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure their buildings are safe. They should consider all routes to meet costs, protecting leaseholders where they can – for example through warranties and recovering costs from contractors for incorrect or poor work.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to work with (a) the Department of Health and Social Care and (b) public health teams to ensure homeless people receive the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England, and NHS England to ensure the health and care needs of vulnerable people experiencing rough sleeping can be met during the COVID-19 pandemic – including access to the vaccination.
On 8 January, we asked all local authorities to ensure that even more people experiencing rough sleeping are safely accommodated, backed by £10 million. We also asked that this opportunity is actively used to make sure that individuals are registered with a GP and are factored into local area vaccination plans, in line with JCVI prioritisation.
Many people sleeping rough may have underlying conditions that increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 but may struggle to access the healthcare they need. The JCVI have now advised that local teams should consider a universal offer of the COVID-19 vaccine for people experiencing homelessness or rough sleeping alongside the delivery of the programme to priority group 6, where appropriate. This will help ensure that the wider health needs of people who sleep rough are addressed, supporting them now and for the future.
We recognise that this group may also experience additional barriers to accessing mainstream delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s why we have encouraged local authorities to work with their local health partners to consider alternative means of delivering the vaccine where mainstream provision is unsuitable.
We continue to work with the homelessness sector, local authorities and health and care partners, to ensure the needs of those experiencing homelessness can be met.