Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing emergency legislation to abolish Section 21 no fault evictions, in the context of the cost-of-living crisis.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for this government, and we will legislate in due course to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of capping the social rent increase at 3 per cent.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
We consulted on setting a ceiling on such rent increases at 3%, 5% or 7% and included an impact assessment for each option here. The consultation is closed, and we are considering responses with a view to responding shortly.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of building more social homes amid the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The provision of affordable housing is an existing part of the Government's plan to build more homes and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the housing ladder.
The government has committed £11.5 billion of taxpayer subsidy towards the supply of new affordable homes. This includes increasing the number of homes for social rent.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that charitable providers of (a) community and (b) health services are included in any Government-backed support for Local Authority provision.
Answered by Paul Scully
Local councils play an essential role in the fabric of our country and are best placed to understand local funding priorities. The flexibility to make funding decisions at a local level is often why these services are so effective. We are working closely with the sector, as we always do, to understand what the impact of cost and demand pressures will be on service delivery and budgets.
The Government also recognises how community hubs, run by local authorities, charities and voluntary and community organisations are vital in delivering the local services on which communities rely. This is why they (and local authorities more broadly) will be eligible to access the package of non-domestic energy support over the next 6 months.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure more affordable housing with (a) two or (b) more bedrooms is available in London via the Help to Buy scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Help to Buy Scheme is currently scheduled to come to a conclusion on October 31 2022 so we do not anticipate further changes in the existing scheme before that date.
Since 2010, over 2 million additional Homes have been delivered including over 598,000 affordable homes. Over 334,000 additional homes (of which 119,716 were affordable) have been delivered in London between 2010-11 and 2020-21.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Help to Buy scheme, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports that buyers have been unable to re-mortgage as a result of the administrators of the equity loan failing to complete the necessary paperwork.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The process of equity loan administration for re-mortgaging is undertaken by an external contractor, Target, who are expected to provide a timely and quality service. Homes England act as monitors of that process.
As with all processes, there will inevitably be some cases which have additional complexity and where the processes may take longer than anticipated. Should there be any specific issues, we suggest that customers approach Target in the first instance to discuss individual cases. If that does not resolve the matter, we would welcome further information to allow us to discuss further with Homes England and the external contractor.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the average time families live in temporary accommodation in the last three years; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for social housing.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Statutory Homelessness Statistics publication for the 2021-22 sets out that the most common length of time for households with children to be in temporary accommodation was for two to five years, representing 19,450 or a third (33.0%) of households with children. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-financial-year-2021-22.
Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head. This Government is committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs. Local Authorities have received £316 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022-23, giving them the funding to prevent homelessness and help more people sooner.
Since 2010, social housing waiting lists have reduced by more than 550,000 households and we have delivered more than 574,000 affordable homes, including 154,600 for social rent. A further £11.5 billion of taxpayer subsidy is being made available with £8.6 billion of that already allocated.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) raising Local Housing Allowance so that it covers the cheapest third of rents and (b) removing the benefit cap on levels of homelessness in England.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The causes of homelessness are complex and driven by a range of factors. The Government has focused on housing welfare support in recent years including, in 2020, by increasing Local Housing Allowance by nearly £1 billion to provide 1.5 million claimants of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit with around £600 more housing support in 2020 / 2021 than they would otherwise have received. The rates will continue to be reviewed annually by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011, the Government has provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs to local authorities to support people who need help with their housing costs.
The adequacy and affordability of housing is a complex area; the benefit cap is applied to a relatively low proportion of households and seeks to restore fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers in employment. There is a statutory duty to review the levels of the cap at least once in every five years and this will happen at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of legislating to extend provisions of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to cover ground rent on existing residential leases.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We are due to bring forward further Leasehold reforms later in this parliament.