Social Rented Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people seeking social housing who are (a) single mothers and (b) families who have children with special educational needs.

Christopher Pincher: The proportion of single mothers who acquired a new social housing letting in 2019/2020 was 20.1% of all new lettings. In 2018/19 single mothers made up 19% of all new lettings. We do not collect information on whether families with children who are seeking social housing have children with special educational needs. The proportion of families who acquired a new social housing letting in 2019/2020 was 10.4% of all new lettings.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-11-03/69086 

Rented Housing: Reform – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to deliver reforms for renters through the proposed renters reform bill.

Eddie Hughes: The Government remains committed to building back fairer and delivering a better deal for renters. We will publish a White Paper in 2022 which sets out a package of reforms to create a fairer private rented sector that works for both tenants and landlords. This will include further detail on repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, and on targeted enforcement measures that drive out criminal landlords. We will explore the merits of a landlord register as part of this work.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-10-28/65377

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 

Housing: Prices – Parliamentary Written Answer

 Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes in the level of house prices on the UK’s economic recovery.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for house prices or the outlook on the UK economy, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In its March forecast, the OBR expects that GDP will grow by 4% in 2021 and return to its pre-Covid peak in 2022. The OBR also forecasts annual house price growth of 5% in 2021. The latest available data shows that UK average house prices reached £266,000 in June 2021.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2021-09-06/HL2449

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 

Right to Buy Scheme: Housing Associations – Parliamentary Written Answer

 tephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend right to buy to housing association tenants after the completion of the 2017 pilot scheme.

Christopher Pincher: The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy and to spreading the dream of home ownership to even more people. The Midlands pilot of the Voluntary Right to Buy scheme completed this year and has been fully evaluated. The Government is looking at the findings, which will be used to inform future policy. As set out in the 2019 manifesto, the Government will evaluate new pilot areas and we will be announcing more details on that.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-09-03/41867

Rents: Arrears – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Carrington: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their press release Support for renters continues with longer notice periods, published on 12 May, on what grounds they have concluded that many landlords are “highly vulnerable to rent arrears”.

Lord Greenhalgh: We know that 45% of landlords have just one rental property and 38% have between two to four properties. For most landlords, income from rent makes up 42% of their total gross income making them highly vulnerable when their tenants build up rent arrears. The Government has to balance supporting tenants with landlords' ability to exercise their right to justice where needed. As national restrictions continue to ease, it is appropriate that the emergency measures start to lift but we are doing so gradually.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2021-07-14/HL2002 

Stamp Duty Land Tax – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the stamp duty holiday; and if they do have such plans, what assessment they have made of the impact of an extension on the benefits to local economies.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: The Government does not plan to extend the SDLT holiday. The SDLT holiday was a temporary measure introduced in July 2020 to create immediate momentum in the property market, supporting jobs in the industry. The £500,000 threshold was stepped down to £250,000 on 1 July 2021 and will return to the normal level of £125,000 on 1 October 2021.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2021-07-20/HL2244 

Rents: Arrears – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the publication of the Household Resilience Study, Wave 2, what assessment he has made of the reasons that the proportion of private renters in arrears has increased during the covid-19 pandemic.

Eddie Hughes: The latest published data from the English Housing Survey Household Resilience Study from November – December 2020, suggests that 9% of private renters are in arrears, compared to 3% pre pandemic. Of the 9% (353,000 households) in arrears, two thirds are in arrears of less than 2 months, indicating the Government package of economic support measures have effectively prevented a widespread build-up of rent arrears

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-18/18528

Homelessness – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of homeless people living in England in each year since 2018.

Lord Greenhalgh: Levels of homelessness in England can be best estimated by looking at the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each year. In Q4 2018 this was 83,540; in Q4 2019 this was 88,310 and Q4 2020 is provisionally 95,370.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2021-06-09/HL944

Private Rented Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to restrict the number of months of rent landlords can request upfront; and what assessment he has made of the effect on tenants in the private rental market of landlords being able to charge tenants six months of rent upfront on their accommodation.

Eddie Hughes: It is for landlords and tenants to agree the amount of rent that should be charged and how much should be paid in advance, according to individual circumstances. We do not expect it to be the norm that landlords ask for multiple months of rent in advance.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-10/14039

Rents: Arrears – Parliamentary Written Answer

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the UK in rent arrears after the end of the ban on bailiff-forced evictions on 31 May 2021.

Eddie Hughes: Data from the English Housing Survey (EHS) Household Resilience Study suggested that approximately 9 per cent of private renters were in arrears in November - December 2020. Most renters in arrears, had arrears of less than 2 months.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-07/11593 

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 

Rents: Arrears – Parliamentary Written Answer

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of households with 4 months’ or more accumulated rent arrears as of 1 June

Eddie Hughes: Data from the English Housing Survey Household Resilience Study November-December 2020 suggested that 1% of private renters were 2 months or more behind. Additionally, approximately 3% of social renters were 2 months or more behind.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-06-04/10694

Private Rented Housing: Evictions – Parliamentary Written Answer

 Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government  whether it remains Government policy that no-one should lose their home as a result of the covid-19 pandemic; and whether the Government plans to provide financial support to private sector renters at risk of losing their homes because of covid-19 related rent arrears.

Eddie Hughes: Whilst evictions can now proceed with 14 days’ notice, they will not be carried out if a member of the home has COVID-19 symptoms or is self-isolating. The Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support which is available to tenants to help them pay their rent. We have also made £140 million in Discretionary Housing Payments funding available, for local authorities to distribute to renters who require additional support, building on the £180 million provided in 2020/21.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-05-27/8659

Private Rented Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to create a fairer private rented sector.

Eddie Hughes: We will bring forward proposals to reform tenancy law to abolish Section 21 evictions and improve security for tenants in the private rented sector, as well as strengthening repossession grounds for landlords when they have valid grounds. Proposals for a new ‘lifetime’ deposit model will also be outlined, to ease the burden on tenants when moving from one tenancy to the next. We are also committed to raising standards in privately rented accommodation, and driving out rogue landlords, including by ensuring all tenants have a right to redress, and ensuring well targeted, effective enforcement that drives out criminal landlords.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-05-26/8001

Social Rented Housing: Succession – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to review succession rules to prevent the next of kin from being evicted in the event that the registered tenant in social housing passes away.

Eddie Hughes: The Localism Act 2011 has made changes to the rules on succession to social tenancies. From April 2012, rather than being limited by law to providing only one statutory succession, social landlords are able to give to new tenants whatever additional succession rights they deem to be appropriate in the tenancy agreement. This means that, for example, adult children who have lived in a property for many years can be provided with the assurance of a right to succeed to the tenancy regardless of whether a previous succession has already taken place. Where family members other than a spouse or partner have a statutory right to succeed to a local authority tenancy, the landlord may seek to evict them if the property is or will become under-occupied. However, the landlord must ensure that suitable alternative accommodation is made available.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-05-18/3042 

Rents: Arrears – Parliamentary Written Answer

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of renters who in arrears in each region of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Eddie Hughes: Data from the English Housing Survey (EHS) Household Resilience Study November-December 2020 suggests that 9% of private rented households and 11% of social rented households are in arrears.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2021-05-18/2885