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 plans he has to reform leasehold tenure in the 2022-23 parliamentary Session.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to creating a fair and just housing system that works for everyone. We will be taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.
This starts with the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 which comes into force on 30 June. The Act will make homeownership fairer and more transparent for thousands of future leaseholders, by preventing landlords under new residential long leases from requiring a leaseholder to pay a financial ground rent.
The Government is committed to delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold and commonhold reforms within this Parliament. This is a long-term reform programme; it is complex with many interdependencies and will take time to get the detail right. Once it is enacted the effect will be felt for generations and so we are determined this work considers all the implications and impacts with care.
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 plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the forfeiture provisions of leasehold housing.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government believes that forfeiture is an extreme measure and should only be used as a last resort. In practice forfeiture happens very rarely and is subject to the right of relief, to be exercised at the court’s discretion.
Any changes to forfeiture will require a careful balancing of the rights and responsibilities of landlords and leaseholders and will require primary legislation. As a first step, we have asked the Law Commission to update their 2006 report Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default, given the passage of time, and to take into account the implications of the reforms currently underway, and we are considering what action may be needed.
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 Homes for Ukraine scheme, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling local authorities to start DBS checks on potential providers of accommodation for Ukrainian refugees before their arrival in the UK.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
That is the position. Guidance is set out at: www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councils.
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 extending the applications of provisions in the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 to ground rent on existing residential leases.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 will put an end to ground rents for new residential leasehold properties as part of the most significant changes to property law in a generation. The Act's provisions will lead to fairer, more transparent homeownership for thousands of future leaseholders. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector. The Government has welcomed the action to tackle potential mis-selling and unfair terms in the leasehold sector and wants to see homeowners who have been affected obtain the justice and redress they deserve.
The CMA has secured commitments from Aviva, Persimmon, Countryside Properties and Taylor Wimpey to amend their practices, including commitments to remove lease terms that led to doubling ground rents, houses sold as leasehold and to support leaseholders to buy the freehold at the original price quoted. On 18 March 2022, the CMA announced that it has secured commitments on doubling ground rents from 15 landlords who bought freeholds from Countryside Properties. Further information is available at https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/leasehold . This is a hugely important step and demonstrates our determination to support affected leaseholders. We urge other developers to follow suit.
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, how many people have been helped by the First Homes scheme in (a) Ealing Central and Acton constituency, (b) London and (c) England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
So far, there have been 28 legal completions of First Homes in our pilot sites in Derbyshire, County Durham and Staffordshire, with 10 more expected in the coming weeks. Homes England are additionally working on the Government's behalf aiming to deliver 1,500 First Homes across England by the end of March 2023.
We are not aware of any First Homes schemes planned in Ealing Central and Acton or Greater London, which are outside Homes England's jurisdiction. However, as of 28 June 2021, national planning policy sets an expectation that new local plans should ensure 25% of all affordable homes delivered through developer contributions should be First Homes.