Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What progress (a) has been and (b) is being made on proposals to replace Lancashire County Council with three new unitary authorities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government is not currently considering any proposals for unitary authorities in Lancashire, nor has it issued any invitations for such proposals.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
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 Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question WPQ 180453, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 5 March 2021 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire, resent on 19 April 2021, on flooding to underpasses in Skelmersdale, reference ZA55528.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
A reply was sent to the Hon Member by the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government on 26 April in response to letters from her about flooding underpasses. This also addressed the points raised by the Hon Member in her letter of 5 March to the Prime Minister.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. member for West Lancashire of 17 March 2021 on West Lancashire Borough Council’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment for 2010, reference ZA52459.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
A response will be issued shortly.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 27 October 2020 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire, reference ZA54204, regarding households in debt.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
I have responded to the hon. Member for West Lancashire's letter.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 18 January 2021 on the closure of the Help to Buy scheme, reference ZA55197.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We issued a response to the Hon Member on 9 March 2021.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes reserved under the Help to Buy scheme will not be complete by (a) 31 March 2021 and (b) 30 June 2021.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Each year the Help to Buy scheme requires new homes to be built out by 31 December and legally complete by the end of the financial year (31 March). This is a contractual requirement that developers are obliged to meet and to only take reservations on that basis.
Following the initial effects of Covid-19 with the hiatus to construction during the first national lockdown, we announced changes to the contractual deadlines on 31 July, which provided developers using Help to Buy an extra two months’ build time. This meant they had until 28 February 2021 to build out properties with the deadline for legal completion remaining at 31 March 2021. Additionally, where reservations were agreed before 30 June 2020, they were granted some further flexibility allowing such reservations to practically complete by 30 April and legally complete by 31 May 2021.
Working in line with sector guidance, the construction industry has been allowed to continue during the subsequent Covid-19 restrictions. Reservations for the current scheme were closed on 15 December, providing builders sufficient time to complete their orders.
Meanwhile, to mitigate against the risk of outstanding reservations not completing in time, Homes England announced on 15 January that it will not enforce the practical completion deadline of 28 February 2021 for the current scheme, thereby maximising the remaining time available time for developers to build out.
These measures provide relief for developers to build out homes delayed by Covid-19. We nevertheless continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the options available to people who lose homes due to the closing of the Help to Buy Scheme.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Each year the Help to Buy scheme requires new homes to be built out by 31 December and legally complete by the end of the financial year (31 March). This is a contractual requirement that developers are obliged to meet and to only take reservations on that basis.
Following the initial effects of Covid-19 with the hiatus to construction during the first national lockdown, we announced changes to the contractual deadlines on 31 July, which provided developers using Help to Buy an extra two months’ build time. This meant they had until 28 February 2021 to build out properties with the deadline for legal completion remaining at 31 March 2021. Additionally, where reservations were agreed before 30 June 2020, they were granted some further flexibility allowing such reservations to practically complete by 30 April and legally complete by 31 May 2021.
Working in line with sector guidance, the construction industry has been allowed to continue during the subsequent Covid-19 restrictions. Reservations for the current scheme were closed on 15 December, providing builders sufficient time to complete their orders.
Meanwhile, to mitigate against the risk of outstanding reservations not completing in time, Homes England announced on 15 January that it will not enforce the practical completion deadline of 28 February 2021 for the current scheme, thereby maximising the remaining time available time for developers to build out.
These measures provide relief for developers to build out homes delayed by Covid-19. We nevertheless continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Help to Buy Scheme in response to delays in construction during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Each year the Help to Buy scheme requires new homes to be built out by 31 December and legally complete by the end of the financial year (31 March). This is a contractual requirement that developers are obliged to meet and to only take reservations on that basis.
Following the initial effects of Covid-19 with the hiatus to construction during the first national lockdown, we announced changes to the contractual deadlines on 31 July, which provided developers using Help to Buy an extra two months’ build time. This meant they had until 28 February 2021 to build out properties with the deadline for legal completion remaining at 31 March 2021. Additionally, where reservations were agreed before 30 June 2020, they were granted some further flexibility allowing such reservations to practically complete by 30 April and legally complete by 31 May 2021.
Working in line with sector guidance, the construction industry has been allowed to continue during the subsequent Covid-19 restrictions. Reservations for the current scheme were closed on 15 December, providing builders sufficient time to complete their orders.
Meanwhile, to mitigate against the risk of outstanding reservations not completing in time, Homes England announced on 15 January that it will not enforce the practical completion deadline of 28 February 2021 for the current scheme, thereby maximising the remaining time available time for developers to build out.
These measures provide relief for developers to build out homes delayed by Covid-19. We nevertheless continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 6 November 2020 on the strategic flood risk assessment for West Lancashire, reference GD/ZA52459.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We have received the letter and are collating any relevant documents to send in reply. As noted in the original correspondence, this is related to press releases and letters from local authorities from 2008 so the discovery exercise is not straightforward. However, we will reply as soon as we can.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 2 October 2020 on a retrospective claim for a home modification, reference ZA53467.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The response was sent on Tuesday 8 December.