Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
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 introduce a cap on service charges.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 24536 on 8 May 2024.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help leaseholders in properties which are of no value due to remediation costs on service charges.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Qualifying leaseholders in relevant buildings are protected in law from all costs associated with the remediation of unsafe cladding. For non-cladding building safety defects there are protections for leaseholders in relevant buildings with a qualifying lease.
This means that for the majority of qualifying leaseholders, their maximum cap for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). In addition, all leaseholders in relevant buildings benefit from qualifying lease status for their principal residence.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support is available for tenants in dispute with local authorities on damp and mould issues.
Answered by Jacob Young
It is unacceptable for anyone to have to live in damp and mouldy conditions. Damp and mould can have a serious impact on the health of tenants. That is why the Secretary of State wrote to all providers of social housing, including local authorities, setting out his expectations that they go further than the letter of the Decent Homes Standard and have particular regard to damp and mould. He also wrote to local authority chief executives and council leaders making it clear they must take action to resolve poor housing conditions in their area.
Social housing tenants of local authorities who are unsatisfied with their landlord’s response to their complaint on damp and mould can raise their issue with the Housing Ombudsman. Our new guidance on damp and mould can also be accessed by tenants at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers.
We have committed to introducing ‘Awaab’s Law’, which will set requirements for social landlords to investigate and fix hazards such as damp and mould in social housing. Our consultation on Awaab’s Law closed on 5 March and we will bring forward secondary legislation to bring this into force as soon as practicable.
We have also given local authorities strong legal powers to use where privately rented or housing association houses or flats are in a seriously dangerous condition, including through damp and mould.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to give tenants the right to keep pets in (a) rented accommodation and (b) leasehold properties.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government recognises that pets can bring joy and comfort to their owners, as well as supporting their mental and physical wellbeing.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will ensure that private landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a request from their tenant to keep a pet. The Bill provides added flexibility where they need to obtain consent of a superior landlord when considering a request. We know that some landlords are concerned about the potential damage caused by pets, so we will also allow landlords to require insurance covering pet damage.
The ability of a leaseholder to keep a pet will depend on the terms of individual leases. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament. Where leases restrict the keeping of pets however, this would be a matter for individual leaseholders to raise with their landlord.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will prevent local authorities from informing people that are intentionally homeless and cannot be supported.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is committed to preventing homelessness and in 2021/22 we provided £310 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to enable local authorities to implement their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act. The Act is the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, placing duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties apply irrespective of whether a person may be regarded as being ‘intentionally homeless’.
Households with a priority need whose homelessness has not been successfully prevented or relieved, are owed a lesser duty if they have become homeless intentionally than if they were homeless unintentionally. This ensures that resources, including temporary accommodation and access to settled housing, are prioritised effectively and accommodation is there for people who need it most. In such cases, a duty remains on the local authority to secure temporary accommodation, to provide reasonable opportunity for the household to find their own longer-term accommodation. The authority must also provide advice and assistance in any attempts the applicant might make to secure accommodation.
Intentionally homeless applicants are therefore entitled to assistance under the legislation and can be supported.