Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the level of hate crime committed against the Sikh community; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle such crime.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
All forms of racial and religious discrimination are abhorrent and have no place in our communities. The Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat crime.
The Home Office publishes statistics which can be found at: Hate crime, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 issue guidance for properties under 18 meters on the requirements for completing Cladding External Wall System forms.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Fire Safety Act (2021) was clear that multi-occupancy residential buildings, regardless of height, must have an up-to-date fire risk assessment that includes the external walls
Separately, the External Wall System Fire Review (EWS1) form is an industry-produced valuation tool to aid valuers and lenders to assess high rise properties. The EWS1 form is not a safety certificate, and it is not a legal or Government requirement. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have issued guidance on its use and application. This guidance makes clear when a valuer surveyor working for a mortgage lender should use the EWS1 process. A surveyor has to justify any request for an EWS1 form.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 had discussions with the Home Department on the suitability of the Bibby Stockholm as accommodation.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support the Government provides to assist people who have inherited a property from a deceased relative but face financial hardship because they have been unable to sell the property within the 6-month period during which empty properties are exempt from Council Tax.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
When a property is empty following the death of the owner, it is exempt from council tax for as long as it remains unoccupied and until probate is granted. Following a grant of probate, a further exemption of up to six months is possible, after which normal rules apply. However, local authorities have powers to agree alternative payment arrangements and some offer to defer payment until the proceeds of a sale are made available.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 (a) protect renters from eviction and (b) support people who are homeless, in the context of the cost of living crisis; and what progress he has made on ending no fault evictions.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for this government, and we will legislate in this Parliament to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. That is why the government has previously taken action to support those who need it most worth over £37 billion in 2022-23.
Government is committed to preventing homelessness where possible. We have announced the allocation of £654 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant that will be made available to local authorities in 2023/24 and 2024/25. Local authorities can use this funding flexibly.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 payment of referral fees to estate agents for referring customers to particular conveyancing services and the passing on of the cost of those fees to customers.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is clear that fees charged by conveyancers, estate agents and other property professionals should be determined by the market. However, where agents receive a referral fee for recommending services to their clients, these fees must be fully disclosed to clients before they make any decision to purchase.
In February 2019, the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team (NTSELAT) published guidance for estate agents which makes it clear they must disclose referral fees. We asked NTSELAT to monitor compliance and in February 2020 they reported that the majority of agents do disclose these fees. NTSELAT will continue to monitor compliance, and we will continue to keep the case for legislation under review.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent public body with responsibility for building warranty, building site inspection and the other functions of the National House Building Council (NHBC) and other warranty providers in the context of recent reports that the National House Building Council approved combustible materials without scrutinising them.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
With a view to giving home buyers greater protection, we are considering carefully whether specific requirements around new build warranties are needed.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 merits of reducing the delay between the submission of electoral registration applications or updates and the updating of those details on the electoral register.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
There is a five working day objection period in which objections to new applications to the electoral register can be made and considered, in order to prevent electoral fraud. The Government is clear that tackling electoral fraud is a high priority, as it secures the protection of our democracy.
The current process is a tried and tested method which Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are familiar with, and there are no current plans to change it. This schedule gives the EROs the opportunity to make the relevant changes in good time, whilst actively ensuring the prevention of fraud and sustaining the completeness and accuracy of the register.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 introduce legislative proposals to prevent landlords from prohibiting through tenancy agreements the keeping of pets by tenants.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government recognises the importance of pet ownership to many renting in the private rented sector. We have therefore taken steps to make it easier for responsible tenants to keep pets in the private rented sector.
We have revised the national Model Tenancy Agreement, the government’s recommended contract for assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector, in order to make it easier for tenants with pets to find private landlords who will accept them. The revision aims to strike the balance between protecting private landlords from situations where their properties are damaged by badly behaved pets and ensuring responsible pet owning tenants are not unfairly penalised.
The Government has no plans at this time to amend the law relating to pets in the private rented sector.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 is taking to help ensure that private parking industries do not circumvent the removal of false debt recovery charges from the values of Penalty Charge Notices in the event that they proceed to a court claim.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
My Department has recently consulted on debt collection fees in Private Parking Charges, Discount Rates, Debt Collection Fees and Appeals Charter: Further Technical Consultation, which closed on 27 August.
Government recognises that debt collection fees are a sensitive area. Widespread concerns have been raised by motoring organisations about the fees and practices of some parking debt recovery agencies. We will therefore carefully consider all consultation responses before making a final decision. We will publish the consultation response in due course.