Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2023 to Question 184606 on Leasehold, what estimate his Department has made of the potential additional legal and valuation costs to leaseholders who are currently in the process of extending or varying a lease.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As I outlined in response to my Hon. Friend, in Question 184606, we are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as parliamentary time allows.
We do not hold data on the number of people who are not protected due to an extension or variation of a lease since 14 February 2022, however, we believe the number to be relatively small.
We have not made an assessment as to the estimate of the potential legal and valuation costs for leaseholders who are in the process of extending or varying a lease. However, it should be noted that, in the normal course of events, all leaseholders typically require legal support in the course of seeking a lease extension or variation, so we do not anticipate that there will be significant 'additional' costs to those which they ordinarily would have incurred.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2023 to Question 184606 on Leasehold, what data his Department holds on the number of people who are not protected due to an extension or variation of a lease since 14 February 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As I outlined in response to my Hon. Friend, in Question 184606, we are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as parliamentary time allows.
We do not hold data on the number of people who are not protected due to an extension or variation of a lease since 14 February 2022, however, we believe the number to be relatively small.
We have not made an assessment as to the estimate of the potential legal and valuation costs for leaseholders who are in the process of extending or varying a lease. However, it should be noted that, in the normal course of events, all leaseholders typically require legal support in the course of seeking a lease extension or variation, so we do not anticipate that there will be significant 'additional' costs to those which they ordinarily would have incurred.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 184606 on Leasehold, whether that legislation will apply retrospectively.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As I outlined in response to my Hon. Friend, in Question 184606, we are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as parliamentary time allows.
We do not hold data on the number of people who are not protected due to an extension or variation of a lease since 14 February 2022, however, we believe the number to be relatively small.
We have not made an assessment as to the estimate of the potential legal and valuation costs for leaseholders who are in the process of extending or varying a lease. However, it should be noted that, in the normal course of events, all leaseholders typically require legal support in the course of seeking a lease extension or variation, so we do not anticipate that there will be significant 'additional' costs to those which they ordinarily would have incurred.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 take steps to ensure statutory leaseholder protections apply to those leaseholders currently extending or varying their leases; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We are aware that leaseholders protected under the statutory leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 may no longer be protected if they have extended or varied their lease since 14 February 2022.
We are looking at how we can extend the remit of the leasehold protections to cover circumstances where there was a qualifying lease, as at 14 February 2022, and where a new lease with an extended term has since been entered into. This would need to be done via primary legislation and we are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to make an announcement about the future of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme beyond April 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has announced a new package of further support under the Homes for Ukraine scheme details of which can be accessed here.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the civil service headcount for their Department was on (a) 15 November 2022 and (b) 1 February 2020.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
DLUHC headcount is published each month at the following link.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many employees in his Department work on matters related to covid-19.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As of 17 November 2022, the Department has 39.7 FTE officials working on supporting the inquiry into Covid-19. Other officials may work on covid-related matters.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assurance process he has put in place to ensure funding provided to local authorities for the Homes for Ukraine initiative is being used solely for that purpose.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The department monitors data submitted from councils who are responsible for reporting the number of guests who arrive, the number of “thank you” payments awarded to sponsors and the amount of tariff funding they are entitled to receive. The department expects councils to use the tariff to support costs associated with the scheme and final assurance will be conducted within a reconciliation process at the end of the financial year.