Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 July 2020 to Question 74630, what progress his Department has made on property valuation arrangements and the use of EWS1 forms for buildings under 18 metres since the June lender roundtable.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Further to the Ministerial roundtable, Department officials have been meeting with lenders over the parliamentary recess period. Some lenders have said they would be open to other evidence on value-affecting building safety matters. Where building owners are able to offer such equivalent evidence, we would encourage lenders to accept that for valuation purposes. A further roundtable with the Minister for Building Safety is being scheduled.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what protection is available for leaseholders whose freehold management companies request excessive service charges to cover covid-19 related costs.
Answered by Luke Hall
The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, these must be of a reasonable standard.
Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.
Following the lockdown due to COVID-19, freeholder repair and maintenance obligations have not changed and remain as set out in the lease. We are aware of concerns being raised by leaseholders about higher than expected service charges due to the effect of COVID-19. We are working with stakeholders to understand the issues freeholders and management companies are facing with the aim that they continue to deliver essential services in line with Government guidance.
Free initial advice is available to leaseholders via the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). Further information on service charges and other leasehold matters can be provided through their website, via a telephone appointment with one of LEASE’s advisers or by email.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many pieces of correspondence he has received from MPs on behalf of constituents on matters relating to covid-19 on each date since the outbreak began; and how many responses he has provided to that correspondence in each category of response.
Answered by Luke Hall
To break these cases down in the manner requested would incur disproportionate cost. However, we are able to provide the following information as an overview of all such cases received:
COVID-19 cases received from MPs on behalf of constituents = 724
Number of cases that await confirmation of transfer to correct department = 127
Number of cases responded to by MHCLG = 428
Number of cases for MHCLG yet to be responded to = 169
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 extend automatic priority need for housing to survivors of domestic abuse in need of a safe and permanent home.
Answered by Luke Hall
This Government believes it is vitally important that domestic abuse victims who are homeless, or are at risk of homelessness, are supported to find an accommodation solution that meets their needs and reflects their individual circumstances.
In April 2018, the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force, which puts prevention at the heart of the local authorities’ response to homelessness, irrespective of whether they are a family or single person, what has put them at risk, or if they have a local connection to the area. This means that all victims of domestic abuse who are at risk of homelessness should be provided with an offer of support from their local authority to find appropriate accommodation.
Under homelessness legislation a person who is pregnant, has dependent children, or is vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation due to domestic abuse already has priority need for accommodation. These duties, alongside new duties under the Domestic Abuse Bill, will ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are supported to find accommodation that meets their needs.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many children there were in temporary accommodation in another local authority district, for each local authority in the last three years.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
This information is currently collected. As these are experimental statistics, the information provided is not of sufficient quality to be published but will be available in future.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 outcome of the selective licensing review announced in June 2018.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Good progress is being made on the review by our independent researchers and the final report is on schedule to be published in Spring 2019.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of almshouses charities are registered providers of housing.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department and the Regulator of Social Housing do not hold this information. The Regulator does not record whether or not a private registered provider of social housing is an almshouse.