Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Leasehold and commonhold reform are key priorities for this government and we remain determined to honour the commitments made in our manifesto and do what is necessary to finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end.
As per my letter to the Chair of the Select Committee dated 18 December 2024, the government expect to be in a position to publish the draft Bill for scrutiny in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring an Electrical Installation Condition Report at the point of sale of a property.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October 2025, the government published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
The consultations include proposals to mandate the provision of upfront property information.
Final decisions are subject to the outcome of these consultations.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had recent discussions with L&Q housing association.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials in MHCLG regularly engage with representatives from across the housing sector, including local authorities, housing associations, developers and other groups.
Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of independence of the Property Redress Service.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department monitors the performance of Property Redress through monthly data returns and regular governance meetings. We take all complaints about their services seriously. Where they arise, we challenge the schemes if we receive suggestions that they have failed to meet the standards to which they subscribe. We are satisfied with the responses to date.
Property Redress are approved as a competent alternative dispute resolution provider under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of this, they are subject to periodic review and required to demonstrate how their decision making remains independent.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Property Redress Service in dealing with complaints.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department monitors the performance of Property Redress through monthly data returns and regular governance meetings. We take all complaints about their services seriously. Where they arise, we challenge the schemes if we receive suggestions that they have failed to meet the standards to which they subscribe. We are satisfied with the responses to date.
Property Redress are approved as a competent alternative dispute resolution provider under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of this, they are subject to periodic review and required to demonstrate how their decision making remains independent.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help support tenants who are unable to secure new tenancies due to private landlords failing to provide references upon request.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where a landlord has requested a reference from a previous landlord and is unable to obtain this, we encourage landlords to make use of other available referencing criteria to give them and the tenant the confidence that the tenancy is suitable. This is already common practice for tenants renting for the first time or those from abroad. Local authorities may also offer guarantee schemes or assistance with rent payments to help people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness to secure a property when they may otherwise struggle to do so. The Government has no plans to introduce a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenants references when requested.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenant references when requested.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where a landlord has requested a reference from a previous landlord and is unable to obtain this, we encourage landlords to make use of other available referencing criteria to give them and the tenant the confidence that the tenancy is suitable. This is already common practice for tenants renting for the first time or those from abroad. Local authorities may also offer guarantee schemes or assistance with rent payments to help people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness to secure a property when they may otherwise struggle to do so. The Government has no plans to introduce a statutory duty for landlords to provide tenants references when requested.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of empty properties on the rental market in (a) Tooting and (b) Greater London.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statistics on empty properties are published annually and are accessible on gov.uk here. We do not hold records on vacant homes per constituency.
Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.
Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of measures for protecting tenants experiencing anti-social behaviour in local authority housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Social landlords, including local authorities, already have a range of powers and enforcement tools to tackle anti-social behaviour including powers to evict perpetrators. We expect landlords to use those powers promptly and proportionately, putting the needs of victims at the heart of their response.
The Regulator of Social Housing has also published a revised Neighbourhood and Community Standard, which came into force on 1 April 2024 as part of the new proactive consumer regulation regime. This Standard will require local authorities to work in partnership the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing.
Under the new consumer regulation regime, social landlords, including local authorities, will also be required to collect and publish Tenant Satisfaction Measures. These will include data on tenants’ satisfaction with their landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour, and the number of anti-social behaviour cases relative to size of landlord.
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced tougher powers to tackle repeat offending, including the new Respect Order to tackle the most persistent ASB offenders. Police, local authorities and housing providers will be able to apply to the court for a Respect Order. Breach of a Respect Order will be a criminal offence and courts will have a wide range of sentencing options, including community orders, unlimited fines and, for the most severe cases, up to two years’ imprisonment.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reforming the non-qualifying leaseholder status for building remediation funding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We understand that many leaseholders are frustrated by the limits of qualifying status set out in the Building Safety Act.
The principle of the leaseholder protection package is to protect leaseholders living in their own homes in unsafe buildings. They also seek to balance the rights of leaseholders who own additional properties with those freeholders (not connected with the developer) who, like the leaseholders, were innocent in the creation of the emerging defects.
To achieve this balance a threshold was set at ownership of up to three properties in total, to cover those individuals who had purchased properties primarily to live in. The inclusion of up to three properties was aimed at giving protection to, for example, those who had been unable to sell flats that they had been forced to move out of, e.g. because of a growing family.
The Government has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and take steps to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.
In the meantime, there is a range of support for those leaseholders whose lease does not qualify for protection under Part 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022. This includes support with cladding remediation and protection for their principal residence on 14 February 2022 if it is in a relevant building above 11 metres or five storeys.