Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what policy decisions were set out in Budget 2020 in relation to Help to Buy.

Christopher Pincher: [Holding answer 19 March 2020]: In February, the Government confirmed details of the new Help to Buy Scheme from April 2021, which included a policy decision to define a first-time buyer as someone who has never previously owned a property. This definition is consistent with other government policies such as Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption. Budget 2020 set out the revised forecast expenditure arising from this decision.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-03-16/29825

Affordable Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether homes funded under the new affordable homes programme from 2021-22 will be required to include a right to shared ownership.

Christopher Pincher: Right to Shared Ownership will give many social housing tenants the opportunity to purchase a stake in their home and take their first step into home ownership. At Budget we announced £12.2 billion of investment to build affordable homes, which is the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade. As a condition of this funding, homes built with it must have the Right to Shared Ownership attached.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-03-12/28566

MHCLG Has No Solid Figures For Homes In Highest Flood-Risk Zone

MHCLG has no solid figures for the number of homes in the highest risk national flood zone and instead works on estimates, a Commons question has confirmed. Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey asked how many homes have been built in National Flood Zone Three in each of the last 10 years, by region. Responding, Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said the MHCLG does not hold figures for the number of homes built in National Flood Zone 3. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/mhclg-has-no-solid-figures-for-homes-in-highest-flood-risk-zone/

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of Help to Buy, Equity Loan customers are in arrears.

Esther McVey: At end November 2019 1,983 Help to Buy customers or 5.8 per cent of the total due to be paying interest fees, were in arrears. The large majority of customers in arrears are only one or two payments behind and this debt very largely reflects short-term administrative issues with direct debit set-up at the start of the interest fee paying period. Total interest fee arrears of £189,000 at end of November 2019 represent 2.7 per cent of total amounts charged to customer accounts.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-03/11448

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of Help to Buy, Equity Loan customers are in arrears.

Esther McVey: At end November 2019 1,983 Help to Buy customers or 5.8 per cent of the total due to be paying interest fees, were in arrears. The large majority of customers in arrears are only one or two payments behind and this debt very largely reflects short-term administrative issues with direct debit set-up at the start of the interest fee paying period. Total interest fee arrears of £189,000 at end of November 2019 represent 2.7 per cent of total amounts charged to customer accounts.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-03/11448

Council Home Drop Under Tory Government Slammed As ‘Disgraceful’

10 years of the Tories has meant a “disgraceful decline” in the number of council homes, according to Labour’s shadow housing secretary, John Healey. According to latest government figures, the number of homes rented from councils has dropped from 1,786,000 in 2010 to 1,592,000 by the end of 2018 – a fall of 194,000 – a number equivalent to all the homes in Bristol. The figure is likely to be attributed in part to changes made under the Coalition Government, which drastically cut funding for council housing and diverted investment into “affordable housing”. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/council-home-drop-under-tory-government-slammed-as-disgraceful/

Affordable Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he will announce the funding for the next phase of the Affordable Homes Programme.

Rishi Sunak: The government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes. We have already secured the future of the programme by announcing funding of £2 billion for its next phase, to give certainty to strategic partners and support them to deliver homes throughout the next decade.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-10-16/887

Grant Would ‘Ramp Up Rapidly’ Under Labour

Housing grant would “ramp up rapidly” under a Labour government, John Healey has said.  The shadow housing secretary described the £4bn a year previously promised by the party as a “starting point”. It comes as the conference is due to vote on a motion calling on the party to pledge “at least £10bn a year for housing grant, ringfenced for delivering 100,000 social rented council homes to be announced at the first Budget”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/grant-would-ramp-up-rapidly-under-labour-says-john-healey-63409?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Labour Progresses Plans To Take ‘Land Profiteering’ Out Of The Housing Market

Labour is progressing plans to take “land profiteering” out of the housing market with a new agency specifically set up to let councils and developers buy sites cheaply from private owners to boost low-cost homes. Through a change in law, the proposed Sovereign Land Trust (SLT) – unveiled by shadow housing secretary John Healey last year – would buy agricultural land at “near current-use value” rather than the inflated prices it sells for when earmarked for development. The new trust would have the potential to purchase non-green belt land on the edge of cities and parcel it out for development to councils and housing associations. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/labour-progresses-plans-to-take-land-profiteering-out-of-the-housing-market/

Housing: Standards – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated to the decent homes programme (a) in each of the last ten years and (b) in each of the next five years.

James Brokenshire: [Holding answer 25 April 2019]: The number of social homes failing to meet the Decent Homes standard fell by 32 per cent between 2010 and 2017. Between 2011 and 2016 we provided a total of £1.76 billion to 45 councils across England to help them tackle their backlog of non-compliant homes. It helped to make over 158,000 homes meet the relevant standards. Private registered providers – such as housing associations - are expected to maintain their homes to the Decent Homes Standard using their own resources. In the year to March 2018, private registered providers spent £1.7 billion on capital improvements to existing stock. The Social Housing Green Paper asked whether there are any changes to what constitutes a decent home that we should consider.

https://qnadailyreport.blob.core.windows.net/qnadailyreportxml/Written-Questions-Answers-Statements-Daily-Report-Commons-2019-04-26.pdf

Labour To Scrap Developer ‘Get-Out’ Clause

Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey MP, has announced that the next Labour Government will scrap ‘permitted development’ rules for new homes, ending a get-out clause. The current clause is said to allow developers to dodge social housing and build “slum housing”. Permitted development rights introduced since 2013 allow developers to bypass the normal planning process by converting commercial spaces into housing without the consent of the council and local community. This gives developers a ‘get-out’ from requirements to provide affordable housing and meet basic quality rules such as space standards creating flats that are only a few feet wide. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/labour-to-scrap-developer-get-out-clause/

Brokenshire Assures Over Impact Of No Deal On Housing Market

A no deal Brexit would still see EU product requirements recognised as valid for sale on the UK housing market for a time-limited period, James Brokenshire has confirmed. Brokenshire was responding to his shadow John Healey, who put a Parliamentary question on the extent of adequacy support for the market in the event of no deal. Responding, Brokenshire referenced already implemented legislation intended to mean that, from the first day of exit, the UK’s regulatory requirements on construction products will be the same as the EU’s requirements. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/brokenshire-assurance-over-no-deal-impact-on-housing-market/

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an estimate of the reduction in the level of revenue accruing to the public purse from an inability to recoup Help to Buy equity loans on leasehold houses due to those properties being (a) unsaleable and (b) saleable only at a reduction on the initial purchase price; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: As the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme is an equity share scheme, the level of revenue recouped to the Government is affected by changes to the housing market. We monitor this financial exposure carefully. The Government has committed to banning new leasehold houses and is clear that onerous lease terms have no place in a modern housing market. No funding from the new Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme from April 2021 will support the build and sale of leasehold houses. There has already been a sharp decrease in leasehold houses sold through the current scheme, which now represent just 4.4 per cent of houses built under the scheme for the third quarter of 2018.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-02-27/226541

Right to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he is meeting the Government's commitment to replace homes sold through the council right to buy scheme.

James Brokenshire: The latest figures for the replacement of council homes sold under the Right to Buy can be found in the statistical release Right to Buy Sales in England: July to September 2018 , and show a shortfall of 2,501 replacements against additional sales.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-01-28/213230

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many leasehold (a) houses and (b) flats have been bought using the Help to Buy equity loan scheme by region since 2013.

James Brokenshire: Up to 30 June 2018, of the 183,948 homes sold through the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, 17,596 were recorded as leasehold houses and 27,771 were recorded as leasehold flats. Local authority level statistics are published in tables with the quarterly Help to Buy data which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buyequity-loan-scheme-statistics-april-2013-to-30-june-2018

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-01-28/213228

Labour Anger At £90k Rebrand For Government's Affordable Housing Quango

Homes England handed an £87,000 rebrand contract to design agency Lloyd Northover give it a “new tone of voice” and produce business cards, among other things. But Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey pointed out the dismal Government record on cheap housing as he took aim at the contract. “The Government has funded just 307 new homes for social rent in the last six months,” he told PoliticsHome. Rather than splashing public cash on PR, Conservative ministers should tell Homes England to put every spare penny towards building new, desperately-needed affordable homes.” Read more on the Politics Home website.

https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/houses/news/100307/excl-labour-anger-%C2%A390k-rebrand-governments-affordable-housing-quango

Affordable Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November to Question 186185 on Affordable Housing, what proportion of the new affordable homes to be delivered by the Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.

James Brokenshire: The £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver at least 250,000 homes by March 2022. At least 12,500 of these will be for social rent outside of London. The Greater London Authority have the flexibility to deliver social rent in London.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-11-13/190775

Labour Party Calls For Scrapping Of Section 21 And Renters’ Unions

In his speech to the Labour Party Conference John Healey called for a wide range of reforms to the private rented sector, including the establishment of renter’s unions, the introduction of rent controls, and the scrapping of section 21. The plans aim to put power in the hands of tenants through the creation of a £20m fund to set up and support the expansion of renters’ unions which will:

• Provide practical support and information, including experienced representatives accompanying tenants to meetings with landlords

• Support tenants in disputes with landlords

• Give renters a stronger national voice and coordinate national campaigns to demand better conditions and a fairer system.

Read more on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/labour-party-calls-scrapping-section-21-and-renters-unions

Healey Warns Sector 'Don't Go Over The Top' In Praise For Government

Housing associations should be cautious of going "over the top" in their praise for Theresa May’s government in the aftermath of her well-received speech last week. Speaking at a fringe event at the party’s annual conference Healey said “ £2bn in three years’ time when the money’s needed now, £2bn when it’s dwarfed totally by more than £20bn that’s been cut from affordable housing investment since 2010 and £2bn in three years’ time when actually last year they made £8bn immediately available to boost Help To Buy. It may be that [housing associations] started 43,000 homes last year but I’d wager that a very, very small number of those were social rented homes.” Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/healey-warns-sector-dont-go-over-the-top-in-praise-for-government-58305?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Labour Will ‘Think Small’ To Build One Million Low Cost Homes

John Healy is to tell NHF Housing Summit 2018 that Labour is ready to “think small” in tackling the housing crisis. Healey is set to tell delegates that the housing association sector was dominated by “a few large players”. Healey is to say Labour’s plan for a million low-cost homes over 10 years will come with new measures to boost building by small/medium sized housing associations and community organisations. Healey is caustic as to Theresa May’s ‘conversion’ to the social housing cause saying: “The Conservatives have treated those who build and live in social housing with contempt.” Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/labour-will-think-small-to-build-one-million-low-cost-homes/