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1248052

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2020
	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: Construction
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Greenhalgh on 1 October (HL8296), 6 October (HL8828), and 28 October (HL9442), what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) fears of negative equity on existing house purchases, and (2) house prices rising faster than wage increases, on the effectiveness of diversification.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL9871
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>In response to Part 1: The Government has taken unprecedented measures to support consumers, businesses and the wider economy. Many homeowners will benefit from these measures.</p><p>The Government has strengthened the welfare safety-net with over £9 billion boost to the welfare system. The furlough scheme has been extended to the end of March, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked. The Government has also supported business during this time through the coronavirus business interruption schemes, the bounce back loans and the future fund.</p><p>This package of support also includes mortgage holidays for up to 6 months, and a moratorium on lender repossession enforcement until 31 January 2021. These measures continue to protect homeowners who have been affected by coronavirus from unaffordable costs if they cannot work due to the coronavirus pandemic. <br> <br>The Government has also taken substantial measures to support the housing market. We have introduced a stamp duty holiday, with effect until 31 March 2021, raising the threshold for paying stamp duty land tax from £125,000 to £500,000. We have kept the housing market open, with clear guidance on how to conduct home buying and selling amid Covid-19 restrictions. We have taken measures to ensure that the housing market and all associated activities can continue during the current lockdown, and the housebuilding sector, in line with the wider construction sector, will continue to operate and follow Covid-19 secure guidelines. In combination, these measures have ensured a functioning and effective housing market. There are currently high levels of transactions in the market. The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions in September 2020 is 98,010, which is very similar to September 2019 at only 0.7% lower and 21.3% higher than August 2020. <br> <br>In response to Part 2: the Government wants to see the housing market diversify over the long term, regardless of short term movements in house prices. We support community and self-builders, small and medium enterprises, and those who are building homes in innovative ways. We have put in place initiatives to diversify the market including the £2.5 billion Home Building Fund, which received a £450 million boost in June, and the £1 billion ENABLE Build guarantee scheme. In addition, we are supporting the Build to Rent sector with a £3.5 billion Guarantee Scheme, driving up standards and quality across the private rented sector. Leveraging in more private investment will help create skilled jobs and drive economic growth while our ongoing planning reforms will reduce burdens on the construction sector.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 16/11/2020 15:17:39 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1248051

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2020
	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: Construction
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Greenhalgh on 1 October (HL8296), 6 October (HL8828), and 28 October (HL9442), what assessment they have made of whether diversification will be sufficient to tackle developments which are currently stalled due to ‘land banking’ and ‘intentional delay’.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL9870
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2020 answer text <p>Sir Oliver Letwin’s 2018 Review of Build Out provided a comprehensive assessment of build out of sites and recommended that a greater diversity of housing products on residential developments was a key way to overcome issues associated with low market absorption rates. Our Planning White Paper consulted on proposals to amend national policy to encourage more variety of development types by different builders, and we are now in the process of analysing the responses. We will be publishing our response in due course</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 10/11/2020 14:26:18 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1248044

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2020
	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	Religious Buildings: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to amend the regulations underpinning the new national COVID-19 restrictions in England from 5 November to allow churches and other places of worship to remain open for both private prayer and limited services; and if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL9846
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>Regulations came into force on 5 November that places of worship in England must close for communal prayer. They are however permitted to open for individual prayer, and to record or stream to broadcast. In addition, funerals are also permitted and can be attended by a maximum of thirty people.</p><p>The regulations are in place until 2 December, at which point we hope to be able to ease restrictions.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 16/11/2020 15:18:28 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1248027

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2020
	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	Religious Buildings: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consulted the Places of Worship Taskforce before announcing the closure of places of worship as part of the national COVID-19 restrictions in England planned from 5 November; what assessment they have made of any issues resulting from churches’ COVID-19 safety measures; and what assessment they have made of whether places of worship are more likely to facilitate the spread of COVID-19 than schools and universities.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL9811
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>The Places of Taskforce met on 2 November. In addition, roundtables have been held with the country’s major faith groups to discuss the guidance.</p><p>Discussions with our faith groups at these meetings, as they have been throughout the pandemic, have been extremely helpful. They have provided us with an opportunity to share information with our faith groups, as well as hearing of their concerns. We will continue to draw on the expertise of the Taskforce in the coming days.</p><p>I am very grateful to our faith communities for their efforts to ensure their places of worship are as Covid-secure as possible. However, the evidence from the scientific community, and from SAGE, points to an increasing rate of infection overall. We therefore need to reduce the level of interaction and the number of gatherings that take place, and with regret, places of worship are closed for communal prayer.</p><p>The regulations now in force will expire on 2 December, at which point we hope to be able to be able to ease restrictions.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 16/11/2020 15:00:20 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1246900

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2020
	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	Affordable Housing: Rural Areas
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their statement that “there is a shortage of affordable housing, particularly for local workers” in rural areas in their response on 2 July 2019 to the report by the Select Committee on the Rural Economy Time for a strategy for the rural economy (HL Paper 330, Session 2017–19), what is the net increase in affordable homes in rural areas since July 2019.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL9724
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2020 answer text <p>This Government believes that meeting the housing needs of rural communities is important and nearly 165,000 affordable homes have been provided in rural local authorities in England between April 2010 and March 2019.</p><p><br> We are investing £12.2 billion in affordable housing over 5 years from next year (2021-2026). This represents the highest single funding commitment to affordable housing in a decade. <br> <br> This investment includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme which will be delivered over 5 years from next year (2021-2026), providing up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. Homes England’s funding prospectus for this supports the delivery of rural housing, with the commitment of 10% of the housing delivered to be in settlements with a population fewer than 3,000. Furthermore, Homes England has dedicated rural housing champions in each of their operating areas and they remain active across the rural housing sector.</p><p>The department collects annual data on new affordable housing supply but does not collect all the data required on disposals of affordable housing that would allow to calculate the net change in affordable housing in rural areas.</p><p>The latest available official statistics on new affordable housing supply are for 2018-19. The publication of the statistics for 2019-20 has been provisionally pre-announced for 3<sup>rd</sup> December 2020.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 02/11/2020 16:31:29 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

1246836

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2020
	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	Urban Areas: Regeneration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress made to date on their plans to reinvigorate fishing towns and communities.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hay of Ballyore
	uin	HL9640
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2020 answer text <p>This Government recognises the unique challenges facing coastal communities and is committed to levelling up all areas of the UK. Through our £229 million Coastal Communities Fund we are supporting communities across England, including fishing towns. Now, through the £3.6 billion Towns Fund we are investing up to £25 million in fishing towns such as Blyth and St Ives. Coastal communities will further be supported through our flagship Fisheries Bill, creating new powers to set fairer fishing opportunities.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 03/11/2020 17:10:19 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	4352 label Biography information for Lord Hay of Ballyore

1246790

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2020
	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	Allotments: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the demand for allotments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what assistance they intend to provide to local authorities, including parish councils, to increase the provision of allotments.
	tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
	uin	HL9637
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2020 answer text <p>Local authorities are responsible for allotments in their area. It is for them to consider issues around local demand and supply. To support immediate and on-going pressures during the pandemic, the government has provided £4.6 billion of un-ringfenced funding to principal councils. We will continue to support local government in managing the pandemic and will keep financial support under review.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 10/11/2020 14:25:51 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1246705

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2020
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the CPRE State of Brownfield Report 2020, published in October 2020.
	tabling member printed	Lord Judd
	uin	HL9538
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2020 answer text <p>We will consider CPRE’s recommendations as we take forward our reforms of the planning system, including those proposed in our <em>Planning for the future</em> consultation. This White Paper made clear that, alongside our ambition to build the homes we need and make the planning process more effective, we will promote the stewardship and improvement of our precious countryside and environment. It is our firm intention to preserve and enhance important natural assets, to encourage provision of new green infrastructure, and to maximise the development potential of suitable brownfield land.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 02/11/2020 16:32:35 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	1660 label Biography information for Lord Judd

1246701

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2020
	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	Affordable Housing: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable small-scale housing models, such as almshouses, to benefit from affordable housing levies, including section 106 agreements.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Eaton
	uin	HL9525
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2020 answer text <p>As part of its contribution to the Loneliness Strategy being led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has commissioned the London School of Economics to undertake research into the benefits of community-led housing in respect of addressing loneliness. The final report of the research is expected in 2021.</p><p>We are currently consulting widely on the proposals for reform set out in the Planning White Paper, and we will be listening carefully to all the representations made, including those from organisations representing almshouses. In relation to s106 planning obligations, we are consulting on proposals to replace the existing system of developer contributions with a new Infrastructure Levy, which will deliver at least as much onsite affordable housing as at present.</p><p>The upcoming government guidance on producing local design codes will set out more detailed parameters for key elements of successful design, recognising the need for a variety of housing tenures, including community and co-housing schemes, to create diverse, equitable and resilient communities. Further information on this will be published in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh grouped question UIN HL9523 HL9524 question first answered 02/11/2020 16:57:36 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	4184 label Biography information for Baroness Eaton

1246700

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2020
	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	Community Housing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to protect and promote small-scale community housing models, such as almshouses, as part of their reforms of the planning system.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Eaton
	uin	HL9524
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2020 answer text <p>As part of its contribution to the Loneliness Strategy being led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has commissioned the London School of Economics to undertake research into the benefits of community-led housing in respect of addressing loneliness. The final report of the research is expected in 2021.</p><p>We are currently consulting widely on the proposals for reform set out in the Planning White Paper, and we will be listening carefully to all the representations made, including those from organisations representing almshouses. In relation to s106 planning obligations, we are consulting on proposals to replace the existing system of developer contributions with a new Infrastructure Levy, which will deliver at least as much onsite affordable housing as at present.</p><p>The upcoming government guidance on producing local design codes will set out more detailed parameters for key elements of successful design, recognising the need for a variety of housing tenures, including community and co-housing schemes, to create diverse, equitable and resilient communities. Further information on this will be published in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh grouped question UIN HL9523 HL9525 question first answered 02/11/2020 16:57:36 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
	tabling member	4184 label Biography information for Baroness Eaton