Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps the Government has taken to support tenants facing eviction under a Section 21 notice.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Renters (Reform) Bill, which had its Second Reading on 23 October, will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.
Landlords will be able to end a tenancy in specific circumstances set out in the legislation, such as if they want to sell or move into their property, and will need to be prepared to evidence the reason for their possession claim in court if necessary.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided local authorities with guidance on schedule 1, part II of the Council Tax (Discount Disregards) Order 1992.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
It is for individual local authorities to make their assessments as to whether a student meets the criteria for a council tax student disregard, based on the legislation and relevant caselaw.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of (a) private and (b) public sector orphan buildings have EWS1 forms in (a) Portsmouth and (b) England.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 138434 on 8 February 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of voter ID requirements during local elections in May 2023 on people with the protected characteristics of race and disability.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 196991 on 11 September 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of amending planning obligations to require developers to contribute to a fund for maintaining trees on new developments.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Planning Policy Framework was amended in July 2021 to set an expectation that all new streets should be tree-lined, and that local planning policies and decisions should ensure appropriate measures are in place to secure the long-term maintenance of newly planted trees. It also encourages developers and local planning, highways and tree officers to work together to ensure that the right trees are planted in the right places and that existing trees are retained wherever possible.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to restrict how landlords can use rent received from tenants on housing benefit in non-decent homes.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Levelling Up White Paper set out our ambition to reduce the number of non-decent homes by 50% by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas, highlighting our commitment to level up the sector and ensure all renters have good quality homes. We are committed to ensuring that rented home are decent, regardless of whether tenants have received housing benefit or not.
In the Social Housing White Paper: Charter for Social Housing Residents the government committed to a range of measures to drive up the quality of social housing, including through the introduction of a new, proactive consumer regulation regime and a review of the Decent Home Standard. Our Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene in cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century. It will deliver the government's commitment to 'a better deal for renters' - improving the system for responsible tenants and good faith landlords. The Bill will legislate to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions so that tenants have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions. We remain fully committed to implementing these reforms and will bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to apply the Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.
The English Housing Survey shows that between 2010 and 2021 there was a reduction in non-decent homes in the private and social housing sectors of 22 per cent, from 1.8 million to 1.4 million.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on changes in the levels of projected housebuilding in each local authority area since January 2023.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take to help housing associations fulfil their new responsibilities under the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, in the context of increases in the cost of living and inflation.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Registered providers of social housing already have a duty to comply with the Regulator of Social Housing's standards. The Regulator will consult on its revised consumer standards following the passage of legislation and the issuance of government directions, and is already conducting extensive engagement with the sector to prepare providers for the new regulatory regime.
More widely, all social landlords should be delivering decent social housing, and prioritising repairs and improvements that need to be made to ensure housing is up to standard.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the prevalence of damp and mould in social housing in Portsmouth.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We assess levels of damp and overcrowding by tenure through the English Housing Survey, which can be found here. Local level data will be held by the local authority in question.
Everyone deserves a decent home - one that is free from dangerous damp and mould and overcrowding - which is why we committed to reducing the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030. We are reviewing the Decent Home Standard and are committed to introduce the standard to the private rented sector for the first time.
We also continue working towards our ambition of delivering 300,000 new homes per year to help create a more sustainable and affordable housing market. Over 2.2 million additional homes have been delivered since April 2010.
I also refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 181418 on 24 April 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the prevalence of damp and mould in social housing in Portsmouth.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We assess levels of damp and overcrowding by tenure through the English Housing Survey, which can be found here. Local level data will be held by the local authority in question.
Everyone deserves a decent home - one that is free from dangerous damp and mould and overcrowding - which is why we committed to reducing the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030. We are reviewing the Decent Home Standard and are committed to introduce the standard to the private rented sector for the first time.
We also continue working towards our ambition of delivering 300,000 new homes per year to help create a more sustainable and affordable housing market. Over 2.2 million additional homes have been delivered since April 2010.
I also refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 181418 on 24 April 2023.