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1134059

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Derelict Land
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to make it easier and quicker for (a) local and (b) combined authorities to take ownership of unused brownfield sites through compulsory purchase with adequate compensation for owners to bring them back into economic use for (i) homes and (ii) employment and remove derelict properties from local communities.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268521
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Local and combined authorities already have broad compulsory purchase powers, which can be used to bring brownfield land back into use. We have recently introduced wide-ranging reforms to make the Compulsory Purchase Order process clearer, fairer and faster. Our reforms in the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 and Housing and Planning Act 2016 include clarification of the ‘no scheme principle’ which underpins compensation for compulsory purchase, making it easier and quicker to establish the fair market value of sites. We are keen to let these important reforms bed-in, but will keep the operation of the system under review.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:16:54 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1134060

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Derelict Land: Walsall
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing in Walsall a pilot scheme to streamline the process of bringing unused brownfield sites back into public use.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268522
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Walsall has provided an excellent example of land remediation, involving many partners in enterprise, so that a large derelict and contaminated site can be brought back into employment use. Our revised National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to give substantial weight to the value of re-using suitable brownfield land, and to prioritise its redevelopment wherever possible. The Government has a toolkit of support for this work, including loan funding for site preparation, infrastructure and land assembly; tax relief for land remediation; and Permission in Principle to speed housing-led development at sites on local Registers of brownfield land. Where appropriate, local authorities should seek the interest and support of development partners such as Homes England.</p><p>Each brownfield site is different and often requires a tailored solution. It is therefore right that local solutions are also explored to find the best approach to brownfield redevelopment for that area, utilising local and national procedures, planning and practice.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:19:18 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1134061

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Shared Ownership Schemes: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that shared home ownership is affordable in London.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268523
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>We believe that Shared Ownership has an important role to play, as part of a diverse and thriving housing market, in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it. The combination of rent and mortgage will often be lower than the cost of outright purchase and in many areas lower than the cost of private renting.</p><p>We have made changes to Guidance for grant funded Shared Ownership, including raising the income cap on Shared Ownership in England from £60,000 to £80,000 and up to £90,000 in London - allowing 175,000 more households to have access Shared Ownership.</p><p>Between 2015 and 2018 - 6,041 shared ownership homes were completed in London.</p><p>The Mayor has overall responsibility for housing policy and delivery in London, but we are all agreed that London needs to build many more homes to meet its need. That is why we have agreed that London will receive £4.8 billion of the Affordable Homes Programme funding (including £1.67 billion announced at Spring Statement 2018) to deliver at least 116,000 affordable housing starts by March 2022.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:20:55 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1134062

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Shared Ownership Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Starter Homes programme on levels of shared ownership.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268524
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Since 2010, we have delivered over 430,000 additional affordable homes to rent and buy. Starter Homes, as defined in Chapter 1 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, require secondary legislation to further define the product before they are brought to the market. As the Government's Starter Homes programme is not yet in operation, it will have had no effect on the levels of Shared Ownership. In fact, Shared Ownership completions were over 11,000 in 2018 and have increased every year since we started collecting this data</p><p><br> We have been engaging with the industry to ensure the regulations to define Starter Homes are sound and that the product works for all concerned. We intend to lay these regulations before the House later this year.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:22:18 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1134063

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Shared Ownership Schemes: Consumers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of what consumer protections are required as private providers enter the shared ownership market.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	268525
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The vast majority of private shared ownership providers are Registered Providers, regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing. In England, all registered providers of social housing must comply with the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing.</p><p>Shared ownership leaseholders with private landlords who are not Registered Providers will have the same rights as other private leaseholders.</p><p>By law, residential managing agents are required to belong to one of the following two redress schemes: The Property Redress Scheme and The Property Ombudsman. Further information can be found at <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Flettings-agents-and-property-managers-redress-schemes&amp;data=02%7C01%7CDeji.Ishola%40communities.gov.uk%7Ca6a0cd8a244040d2ada508d6fae8501d%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C636972273013434847&amp;sdata=y60nhv3Af7oMbOT1vEwd%2F2l13%2BoKue4Qi2nQaCHTLBw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/lettings-agents-and-property-managers-redress-schemes</a>.</p><p>Outside of this framework, Government is also committed to exemplary consumer protection across all areas of the housing market. We have established the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group – chaired by Lord Best – to advise on a new regulatory structure for property agents (including letting, managing and sales agents) with an independent regulator and a mandatory code of practice. We expect the group to make their recommendations in July.</p><p>As new private sector products are developed we will keep the regulatory framework under review to ensure that consumer protections are maintained and enhanced.</p><p>We also know more needs to be done to strengthen consumer redress for purchasers of new build homes, which is why we have announced our intention for there to be a New Homes Ombudsman to protect the rights of all homebuyers and hold developers to account.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:18:25 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1134201

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Housing: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Crossrail 2 on trends in the level of house-building in north-east London; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	268585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is considering the recommendations of the Independent Affordability Review of Crossrail 2, and will consider the next steps for the project and its business case – including the potential of the scheme to deliver housing - at the Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:22:44 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1134144

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Buildings: Insulation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396 on Buildings: Insulation, whether his Department holds video footage of the failed BS 8414 test.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	268566
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not hold video footage of the test. The test was carried out by a third party and the Department does not typically hold this type of information</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 01/07/2019 16:13:37 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse previous answer version 125806 answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1134217

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the finding, reported in the Guardian on 17 June 2019, that the number of homeless camps forcibly removed by local authorities across the UK has risen from 72 in 2014 to 254 in 2018; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	268596
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Housing, Commnunities and Local Government does not collect any statistics on the number of homeless camps who have been forcibly removed by local authorities.</p><p>The Guardian article on 17 June 2019 says the estimate is based on a Freedom of Information request to all councils in the UK about how many homeless encampments they had cleared since 2014, how many complaints about encampments they had received and details on charges for confiscated tents and possessions. The article says ‘an encampment was defined as a location where one or more homeless people were living in the area in private or public land’. 336 local authorities out of total of 408 in the UK provided a response. No further details about the overall quality and robustness of these statistics is provided so we are unable to make an assessment of the accuracy of these findings.</p><p>The Guardian article is available at the following link: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/17/removal-of-homeless-camps-trebles-as-charities-warn-of-out-of-control-crisis" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/17/removal-of-homeless-camps-trebles-as-charities-warn-of-out-of-control-crisis</a></p><p>These statistics do not adhere to same rigour as government statistics. The Rough Sleeping Statistics, published on 31 January 2019, which are produced in compliance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics, include people sleeping rough in makeshift camps but no separate figures about the types of sites where people are sleeping rough are recorded or whether they have been forcibly removed by local authorities.</p><p>These statistics show the total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough in each local authority area in England, on a single night in Autumn 2018 was 4,677. This was down by 74 people or 2 per cent from the 2017 total of 4,751 and was up 2,909 people or 165 per cent from the 2010 total of 1,768. Local authorities use a specific definition to identify people sleeping rough. This includes people sleeping or who are about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents, cars, and makeshift shelters. The full definition of people sleeping rough is as follows:</p><p><em>People sleeping, about to bed down (sitting on/in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments). People in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or “bashes” which are makeshift shelters, often comprised of cardboard boxes). The definition does not include people in hostels or shelters, people in campsites or other sites used for recreational purposes or organised protest, squatters or travellers. Bedded down is taken to mean either lying down or sleeping. About to bed down includes those who are sitting in/on or near a sleeping bag or other bedding.</em></p><p><br>These statistics are available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2018</a>.</p><p>This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 01/07/2019 14:56:03 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1134218

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the forcible removal of camps containing homeless people.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	268597
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not issue guidance on the removal of tents containing homeless people. Each local authority, together with the police, will make their own plans and decisions about how to best support rough sleepers and ensure their safety in their own area, based on local circumstances. This can include the removal of encampments, alongside support. Encampments can present serious safety risks for the people living in encampments and it is right that local authorities, who know their area best, have the powers they need to respond. A summary of the powers that public bodies have to help them deal with illegal and unauthorised sites, published in 2015, is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments</a></p><p>Where local areas are taking action to remove encampments, we are clear that this needs to go hand-in-hand with considering how to support the people residing in them away from rough sleeping. Safeguards are in place to ensure powers are used appropriately. For example, for Public Space Protection Orders councils must consult with the police and relevant community representatives before making the order, and before the order is made councils must also publish the draft order. The Government guidance on Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-crime-and-policing-bill-anti-social-behaviour" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-crime-and-policing-bill-anti-social-behaviour</a></p><p>This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 01/07/2019 14:49:39 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1132636

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Buildings: Inspections
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to address the availability of professional indemnity insurance for building safety inspectors.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
	uin	HL16414
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Professional indemnity insurance for Approved Inspectors is principally a matter for the firms concerned and their insurers. We are aware that some firms are struggling to secure insurance, and we are working with Approved Inspectors and insurers to understand the issue and to consider whether and how we can help to overcome it.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 01/07/2019 12:09:35 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
	tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark