Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will review the five-year plan to assume that homes will be built within five years to remove incentives for developers to delay development and speculate on land.

Christopher Pincher: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies. The Government wants to see homes built faster and expects house builders to build out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted. Where build-out is delayed, it is for councils and developers to work closely together to overcome any barriers. To support them, this Government is looking at strengthening the tools available to local authorities to encourage faster build out rates.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-09-14/49185 

Pincher Re-Appointed In Rebranded ‘Levelling Up’ Department

Chris Pincher has been re-appointed housing minister in the renamed Ministry for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (MLUHC). Lord Stephen Greenhalgh also retains his position as minister for building safety. He will serve under new secretary of state Michael Gove and alongside other new appointees Kemi Badenoch, who will serve as minister for equalities and planning reform critic and former adviser Neil O’Brien who will join in a junior role. The department has been renamed, from Ministry for Communities & Local Government, as part of efforts to underline the government’s pledge to spread wealth and opportunity to all parts of the United Kingdom. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/pincher-re-appointed-housing-minister-in-rebranded-levelling-up-department/5113766.article 

Regulator of Social Housing: Powers – Parliamentary Written Answer

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigatory powers.

Christopher Pincher: The most important step we will take will be to work with the Regulator of Social Housing to create a strong, proactive consumer regulatory regime, strengthening the formal standards against which landlords are regulated, requiring them to be transparent about their performance so they can be held to account, to put things right when they go wrong and to listen to tenants through effective engagement. The Regulator of Social Housing will be given stronger powers to proactively monitor and drive compliance with consumer standards, as well as regular inspection of the largest landlords and new tenant satisfaction measures to help assess landlord performance on issues like repairs and complaints handling. We are committed to implementing the reforms laid out in our Charter for Social Housing Residents, and will look to legislate as soon as practicable.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-09-03/42055 

Housing Minister Defends First Homes Scheme Price Caps And Outlines Developer Support

The government has defended its two-tier price cap system for its First Homes scheme and confirmed that it would not provide additional financial support to property developers to support the scheme. The minister of state for housing Christopher Pincher said that it was important that price caps provided “clarity and consistency” to support consumers, developers, and mortgage lenders, which its current system did. He said its current price cap system, which states after the discount properties should be priced at no higher that £250,000 or £420,000 in Greater London, would ensure that at least 25 per cent of properties purchased by first-time buyers in England and Greater London would be included. Read more on the Mortgage Solutions website.

https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2021/07/15/housing-minister-defends-first-homes-scheme-price-caps-and-outlines-developer-support/

 

First Time Buyers – Parliamentary Written Answer

Sir Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is in the event that a developer cannot find sufficient purchasers to satisfy the First Homes policy.

Christopher Pincher: Guidance for First Homes, published alongside the written ministerial statement on 24 May 2021, recommends that if a home remains unsold after a total of 6 months of marketing, despite making every reasonable effort to ensure the home is sold to a suitable person, the developer should be able to release the home onto the open market and pay the local authority a percentage of the sale price equal to the proposed percentage discount.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-04/10155 

Buildings: Safety – Parliamentary Written Answer

Jonathan Gullis: What steps his Department is taking to improve building safety.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Safety Bill announced in the Queen’s speech is a comprehensive piece of legislation which will bring about a once in a generation change to building safety, and will ensure that people, homes, and buildings are safer in future, and that the right people are held to account. It will introduce a new regulatory regime for high-rise buildings and for construction products and will drive the regulatory, cultural and behavioural changes needed to ensure people are safe in their homes and residents are at the heart of the new, robust system.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-14/901099

Building Safety Fund – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the £3.5 billion of funding for the Building Safety Fund announced by the Government on 10 February 2020, in which financial year that funding will be made available.

Christopher Pincher: This funding will be made available from the current financial year.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-08/12143 

Government Outlines ‘First Homes’ Initiative

The government has outlined more details about its ‘First Homes’ initiative. The Minister of State for Housing Christopher Pincher said that the homes built under the ‘First Homes’ scheme had to adhere to the following conditions.

·         New builds are to be sold at a 30 per cent discount, which will be kept in perpetuity.

·         The homes are to be ringfenced for first-time buyers.

·         The market price on the homes is to be kept at £250,000 outside of Greater London, but rising to £420,000 within.

·         The household income of the first-time buyers should not exceed £80,000 outside of Greater London, or £90,000 within.

·         The homes can be set aside by local authorities for key workers and for those with a connection to the local area.

Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/government-outlines-first-homes-initiative/

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the value of the applications to the existing Help to Buy scheme in England

Christopher Pincher: From the start of the scheme on 1 April 2013 to 30 September 2020, the total value of equity loans has been: (a) £17,413,247,594 in England.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-03-24/174990

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of homes needed to be built per year to meet demand.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to building one million homes over the course of the Parliament, and in 2019/20 net additions to the housing stock totalled 243,770 – the highest total for over thirty years. The Government recently published a revised standard method for calculating local housing need which is used by Local Planning Authorities in planning for the housing needs in their area.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-03-19/172050 

Housing: Older People – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase number of local authorities with local plan policies relating to older people’s housing.

Christopher Pincher: Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older people when planning for new homes. In 2019 we published guidance to help councils implement the National Planning Policy Framework policies. On 19 January 2021 our Written Ministerial Statement set the expectation that all authorities should have up to date plans in place by the end of 2023.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-03-17/170733

Affordable Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

 Stuart Anderson: [166569] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to build more affordable homes and reduce social housing provider waiting lists.

Christopher Pincher: The new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will leverage up to £38 billion of private finance and provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. Approximately 50% of the homes delivered will be for affordable home ownership. We will also deliver more than double the homes for social rent compared to the current programme, with around 32,000 social rent homes due to be delivered. Furthermore, [the] Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme will deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-03-10/166569

Building Safety Fund – Parliamentary Written Answer

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether, in respect of buildings with unsafe cladding, he has inserted a contract clause to say that leaseholders cannot claim assistance for cladding repairs from the Building Safety Fund unless they can prove that they have sufficient funding to complete all necessary fire safety works; and if he will make a statement

Christopher Pincher: ..we must ensure that the remediation of the unsafe cladding systems is not delayed by any funding shortfalls for any additional works the applicant may want to take forward at the same time that are not eligible for funding. There is no requirement within the contract for applicants to perform other fire safety works at the same time as cladding works, and if the applicant chooses to perform other works as separate projects, this will not affect the payment of funding for cladding remediation.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-03-03/162511

Help to Buy Scheme: Insulation – Parliamentary Written Answer

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to extend the interest free period on Help To Buy Loans for leaseholders living in buildings with unsafe cladding.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is conscious of the need to make any financing scheme affordable for leaseholders. That is why we have said that any financing scheme will have a £50 a month cap. We will publish more details on how these will work alongside existing funds (including the Building Safety Fund (BSF)) soon. There are no plans to extend the interest-free period on Help to Buy Equity Loans.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-02-22/156607

Building Safety Fund (2) – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to recoup the costs of the Building Safety Fund from residential property developers.

Christopher Pincher: as announced on 10 February 2021, we are going to introduce a developer levy through the Building Safety Bill to be targeted and applied when developers seek permission to develop certain high-rise buildings in England. In addition, we will introduce a new tax for the UK residential property development sector in 2022. The levy and tax will ensure that the largest property developers make a fair contribution to the remediation programme. The Government will consult on the policy design of the tax in due course.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-02-11/153224

Building Safety Fund (1) – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to recoup the costs of the Building Safety Fund from residential property developers.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Safety Fund should not be the only means of funding the remediation of unsafe cladding on high-rise residential buildings. Building owners should meet the costs without passing them on to leaseholders wherever possible, through their own resources or by recovering costs from applicable warranty schemes or from the developers or contractors who were responsible for the installation of unsafe cladding, as is happening with more than half of the private sector buildings with ACM cladding. Applicants to the Building Safety Fund are required to demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to recover the costs of replacing the unsafe cladding from those responsible.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-02-11/153224

Social Rented Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage housing developers to build more council and other forms of social housing.

Christopher Pincher: The new Affordable Homes Programme will deliver more than double the number of homes for social rent than the current programme, with around 32,000 social rent homes due to be delivered. We are reforming the planning system and have set out our ambition that the new Infrastructure Levy will raise more than the existing system of developer contributions, and deliver at least as much onsite affordable housing. We propose that local authorities should be able to specify the forms and tenures of onsite provision, working with a nominated affordable housing provider.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-01-26/143833 

Public Sector: Land Use – Parliamentary Written Answer

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the 16 January 2021 press release entitled Right to Regenerate to turn derelict buildings into homes and community assets, what definition his Department plans to use of public and local communities to determine who can request the sale of underused land owned by public bodies in England.

Christopher Pincher: The Government believes that people and communities know how best to make use of local land. The proposals set out in the Right to Regenerate consultation would make it easier to challenge councils and other public organisations to release land for redevelopment – helping communities make better use of public land and give a new lease of life to unloved buildings. Under the current rules, anyone can challenge public bodies to release underused land. Where they are making a request on behalf of a community group, company or other organisation, the applicant is also asked to provide this information. We will consider the views of respondents in relation to this, as with any other views they may have.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-01-22/142004 

Right to Buy Scheme: Midlands _ Parliamentary Written Answer

Nick Fletcher:  To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timescale is for the conclusion of the Voluntary Right to Buy pilot for housing association tenants in the Midlands; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential for that scheme to be rolled out more widely after that pilot's conclusion.

Christopher Pincher: The final sales under the Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot are due to conclude in 2021, following some delays to sales caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The pilot is being fully evaluated, and the results of this evaluation will be published.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-11-30/122924 

Raising Of Section 106 Threshold To Be ‘Kept Under Review’

Appearing before the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Christopher Pincher said he will review how plans to make sites of 40 or 50 homes exempt from Section 106 agreements would impact affordable housing provision. Section 106 agreements are agreed between developers and local authorities and usually involve the former either providing a certain proportion of affordable housing on site or an equivalent financial contribution. They were previously required on sites as small as 10 homes. Statistics released by the government show that Section 106 funded 52% of all affordable housing delivery in 2019/20, up from 49% the previous year. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/raising-of-section-106-threshold-to-be-kept-under-review-says-pincher-68943?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60