Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislation to approve the Law Commission's draft code on event fees under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We have committed to making event fees in leasehold retirement properties fairer and more transparent. We intend to bring forward legislation, as soon as Parliamentary time allows, to introduce a Code of Practice for event fees.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 number of people unable to vote due to the voter ID requirements in the elections of 2 May 2024.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be providing their analysis of the running of the May polls 2024. This will include the reporting of the number of individuals turned away from polling stations. We anticipate publication of their interim report in early July.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications for emergency proxy votes due to (a) lost and (b) damaged IDs were received in the elections of 2 May 2024; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications of that number for his policies on voter ID .
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be providing their analysis of the running of the May polls 2024. This will include the reporting of the number of individuals turned away from polling stations. We anticipate publication of their interim report in early July.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in the devolved nations.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20145 on 16 April 2024.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's statistics entitled Statutory homelessness in England: October to December 2023, published on 30 April 2024, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help prevent more households being forced into temporary accommodation and (b) financially support local authorities facing an increase demand for temporary accomodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We are investing over £1.2 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years to help councils prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation, including a £109 million top-up announced at Autumn Statement for 2024/25.
The Local Authority Housing Fund enables councils in England to buy or build housing stock to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. We recently announced a third round of funding, bringing the total funding to £1.2 billion.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of empty residential properties in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure empty residential properties do not fall into disrepair.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 24519 on 10 May 2024.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to increase protections for house purchase expenses prior to exchange of contracts.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of council homes in Morley and Outwood constituency.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It is for local authorities to identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in planning and other policies.
We do not collect data by parliamentary constituency on new supply of affordable housing, including on social rent. These data are collected by local authority area and published on gov.uk in Live Table 1006C.
This Government is committed to increasing the supply of social and affordable housing. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country, including social rent.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 take steps to reduce health inequalities through housing in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to improving the quality of rented homes and committed in the Levelling Up White Paper to reduce the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030, building on the extensive progress made since 2010. We are introducing a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector through the Renters (Reform) Bill, which will introduce new standards that all private rented sector homes must meet. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act introduced new measures to drive up the quality of social homes, including through a new proactive consumer regulation regime led by the Regulator of Social Housing. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law, which will set new strict timeframes for social landlords to fix health hazards in homes.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 of the adequacy of support for residents ordered to leave their flats because of (a) structural and (b) fire risks.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19948 on 28 March 2024.