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 housing overcrowding 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 assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of housing overcrowding 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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing polices for land reform in England to help improve transparency in land ownership.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Part 11 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill includes relevant provisions and is under consideration in the House of Lords.
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 his Department has made an assessment of the impact of ESW1 certificates on a leaseholder's ability to (a) sell their home and (b) re-mortgage.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
In December 2022 major lenders committed to lend on properties subject to remediation or where leaseholders held statutory protections under the Building Safety Act, subject to normal lender policy requirements. This is supported by new valuation guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which enables the valuation of buildings with building safety issues. We continue to liaise with the industry to understand the progress that is being made.
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 will make an assessment of the potential merits of including requirements to (a) assess, (b) report and (c) reduce embodied carbon in the building regulations.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Considering embodied carbon of buildings is an important aspect of net zero. Progress is being made on tackling the operational carbon emissions, which will continue with the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. We have committed to consulting this year on our approach to the issue of embodied carbon.
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 establish a freely accessible database for anonymised Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessment data of new buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Considering embodied carbon of buildings is an important aspect of net zero. Progress is being made on tackling the operational carbon emissions, which will continue with the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. We have committed to consulting this year on our approach to the issue of embodied carbon.
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 it his policy to set out a timetable for the introduction of strict limit values on embodied carbon emissions for all building developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Considering embodied carbon of buildings is an important aspect of net zero. Progress is being made on tackling the operational carbon emissions, which will continue with the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. We have committed to consulting this year on our approach to the issue of embodied carbon.
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 it his policy to introduce a requirement for whole life-cycle carbon assessments to be submitted as part of (a) pre-application enquiries, (b) full planning submissions and (c) practical completion within the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Considering embodied carbon of buildings is an important aspect of net zero. Progress is being made on tackling the operational carbon emissions, which will continue with the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. We have committed to consulting this year on our approach to the issue of embodied carbon.
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 plans to regulate the construction and demolition of buildings in order to reduce CO2 emissions and meet net-zero targets.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Considering embodied carbon of buildings is an important aspect of net zero. Progress is being made on tackling the operational carbon emissions, which will continue with the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. We have committed to consulting this year on our approach to the issue of embodied carbon.
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, with reference to the correspondence by his Department entitled Email to hosts: information on the Homes for Ukraine programme, published on 1 March 2023, what a reasonable contribution would be towards household bills.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out in published guidance, Ukrainian guests have full access to benefits and the right to work from their first day in the UK. Sponsors can ask guests to make a reasonable contribution towards food and other household expenses during their stay but this will depend on individual circumstances. The Government does not offer advice on the individual circumstances of sponsors and their guests.