Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will seek to amend planning rules to encourage the building of homes with gardens in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework encourages local planning policies and decisions to ensure developments create places that promote health and well-being with a high standard of amenity for existing and future users. The supporting National Design Guide recognises that well-designed shared and private amenity space, including gardens, can promote quality of life for the occupants and users of buildings, and are flexible to adapt to the changing needs of their users over time.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recommendations on the cost of leasehold enfranchisement contained in the Law Commission's report, entitled Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease: Report on options to reduce the price payable, published on 9 January 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is carefully considering the proposals outlined in the Law Commission’s report Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease, Report on options to reduce the price payable and will set out its preferred way forward in due course.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that planning decisions are not made during the covid-19 lockdown in the event that residents are prevented from engagement in the planning process as a result of social distancing rules.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has made clear that local planning authorities should continue to prioritise decision-making during these challenging times to ensure that the planning system continues to function, especially when this when this will support the local economy.
Local planning authorities are still required to undertake a formal period of public consultation of no less than 21 days, prior to deciding a planning application.
Effective consultation allows local planning authorities to identify and consider all relevant planning issues associated with a proposed development. Where relevant considerations are raised by local residents, these must be taken into account by the local authority.
Most planning applications are determined by planning officers through a local authority’s scheme of delegation. Where decisions need to be made by committee, we have introduced legislation that allow council planning committee meetings to be held virtually.
Local planning authorities should take an innovative approach, using all options available to them including their use of technology and electronic communication, to ensure that planning decisions are made and sufficient public participation in the planning process is maintained. The Government is working with the Planning Advisory Service to publish further advice on ways this can be achieved.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure effective public engagement with the planning process during the social distancing rules in place in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has made clear that local planning authorities should continue to prioritise decision-making during these challenging times to ensure that the planning system continues to function, especially when this when this will support the local economy.
Local planning authorities are still required to undertake a formal period of public consultation of no less than 21 days, prior to deciding a planning application.
Effective consultation allows local planning authorities to identify and consider all relevant planning issues associated with a proposed development. Where relevant considerations are raised by local residents, these must be taken into account by the local authority.
Most planning applications are determined by planning officers through a local authority’s scheme of delegation. Where decisions need to be made by committee, we have introduced legislation that allow council planning committee meetings to be held virtually.
Local planning authorities should take an innovative approach, using all options available to them including their use of technology and electronic communication, to ensure that planning decisions are made and sufficient public participation in the planning process is maintained. The Government is working with the Planning Advisory Service to publish further advice on ways this can be achieved.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to tackle fraudulent sub-letting of social housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government supported and implemented the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 which makes it a criminal offence to unlawfully sublet social housing. It also allows the court to award the social landlord the profit the tenant has made from their unlawful sub-letting, regardless of whether the landlord has incurred a loss.
Between 2011 and 2015 the Department provided £19 million to local authorities to help them tackle tenancy fraud; and supported a team within the Chartered Institute of Housing to provide advice and support to all social landlords.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions have taken place between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have held with (i) TfL and (ii) the Mayor of London on plans to build on land around High Barnet, Cockfosters and Finchley Central underground stations within the last 12 months.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There have been no discussions between MHCLG and (i) TfL or (ii) the Mayor of London regarding building on land around High Barnet, Cockfosters and Finchley Central underground stations.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish correspondence between his Department and (a) TfL and (b) the Mayor of London on plans to build on land around High Barnet, Cockfosters and Finchley Central underground stations.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There has been no correspondence between MHCLG and (a) TfL or (b) the Mayor of London regarding building on land around High Barnet, Cockfosters and Finchley Central underground stations.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the publication of legislative proposal to reform the charges levied on the owners of leasehold properties; and whether that legislation include reform of the charges levied on freeholders.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and residential freeholders and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.
The Government believes that service charges should be transparent, communicated effectively and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong. That is why we have established a working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property sector and consider how fees such as service charges should be presented to consumers and to explore the best means to challenge fees which are unjustified. The group is instructed to report back to Government in July 2019.
The Government will legislate to ensure that freeholders who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private or mixed use estate, can access equivalent rights as leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of service charges.
The Government intends to bring forward the legislation to make these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government's proposals to reform the rules on charges levied on freehold home owners for maintenance of (a) related roads and (b) facilities will apply to existing arrangements for that maintenance.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government has committed to ensuring that freehold home owners who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private or mixed tenure estate can access equivalent rights as leaseholders to challenge their reasonableness.
We intend to create a new statutory regime, to cover both existing and future freeholders, based on the leaseholder rights contained in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This will ensure maintenance charges must be reasonably incurred and services provided are of an acceptable standard. We will provide freeholders with the ability to challenge the reasonableness of the charges they are required to pay towards the maintenance of communal areas and facilities at the First-tier Tribunal. We are also considering whether freeholders should have a right to change the provider of maintenance services by applying to the tribunal for the appointment of a new manager. We will bring forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to bring unoccupied properties back into use.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has given strong powers and incentives to local authorities to tackle empty homes. From 1 April 2019, they will have discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years, from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax, through new powers afforded by the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018. In addition, the New Homes Bonus allows local authorities to earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.
Under certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years in order to bring it back into use. They must provide evidence that the property represents a nuisance, and that there is community support for their proposal.