Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department (a) holds and (b) publishes on the number of residential units controlled by management companies in England.
Answered by Jacob Young
We do not hold or publish data on the number of residential units controlled by management companies in England.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of shared ownership properties there are in (a) London and (b) England.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Regulator of Social Housing collects and publishes information on low-cost home ownership housing owned by registered providers, including shared ownership. This information is available at the following link.
These data does not include information on units owned by non-registered providers. Shared ownership comprises the majority of the wider category of low-cost home ownership but cannot be separately identified from the available data.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many outstanding planning decisions that have been the subject of a public planning inquiry are awaiting final decision by him as of 13 November 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As of 13 November 2023, there were 14 planning decisions that have been the subject of a public planning inquiry and are with the Department for consideration. All will lead to decisions taken by Ministers.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to increase the Help to Buy equity loan scheme regional purchase price cap for properties in Greater London.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme closed to new customers on 31 October 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of residential buildings that contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) concrete.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 197493 on 11 September 2023.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2023 to Question 190204 on Housing Ombudsman Service: Complaints, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time for the Housing Ombudsman Service to respond to complaints made regarding (a) housing associations and (b) the private rental sector.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department holds Accounting Officer meetings quarterly with the Ombudsman, where the focus is on tracking progress against performance indicators, including complaint handling times.
Recognising the growing demand, the Department has supported the Ombudsman by approving year on year increases in membership fees to increase numbers of staff dealing with social housing and private rented sector complaints.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 adequacy of the time taken for the Housing Ombudsman Service to process complaints raised in 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department holds Accounting Officer meetings quarterly with the Ombudsman, where the focus is on tracking progress against performance indicators, including complaint handling times.
Recognising the growing demand, the Department has supported the Ombudsman by approving year on year increases in membership fees to increase numbers of staff dealing with social housing and private rented sector complaints.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on leasehold reform that will retrospectively provide a right to extend a lease by 990 years.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament and will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on whether any commercial buildings converted into residential buildings under permitted developed rights contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Answered by Lee Rowley
Individual building owners and managers continue to be responsible for health and safety, including responding to safety alerts such as RAAC.
Building owners must address safety risks of all kinds in their buildings through a risk-based, proportionate and evidence-based approach. On the 1 May 2019, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety issued a safety alert on the failure of RAAC planks. Local authorities, like other building owners, are advised to follow available professional guidance.
The Local Government Association has advised members to check whether any buildings in their estates have RAAC, to ensure it can be identified, assessed, and responded to accordingly. This is accessible on the LGA website and in line with the guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers. If further buildings are identified as having suspected or confirmed RAAC, building owners and managers should follow the guidance to put appropriate mitigation in place.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 had recent discussions with (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations on the possible use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in residential homes in England.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Individual building owners and managers continue to be responsible for health and safety, including responding to safety alerts such as RAAC.
Building owners must address safety risks of all kinds in their buildings through a risk-based, proportionate and evidence-based approach. On the 1 May 2019, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety issued a safety alert on the failure of RAAC planks. Local authorities, like other building owners, are advised to follow available professional guidance.
The Local Government Association has advised members to check whether any buildings in their estates have RAAC, to ensure it can be identified, assessed, and responded to accordingly. This is accessible on the LGA website and in line with the guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers. If further buildings are identified as having suspected or confirmed RAAC, building owners and managers should follow the guidance to put appropriate mitigation in place.