Housing Supply Mike Tapp (Dover and Deal) (Lab) 1. What steps her
Department is taking to increase the supply of housing.(900867) Mr
Lee Dillon (Newbury) (LD) 7. What steps her Department is taking to
increase the supply of housing.(900873) Josh Simons (Makerfield)
(Lab) 18. What steps her Department is taking to increase the
supply of housing in towns in the Makerfield constituency.(900884)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local...Request free trial
Housing Supply
(Dover and Deal) (Lab)
1. What steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of
housing.(900867)
Mr (Newbury) (LD)
7. What steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of
housing.(900873)
(Makerfield) (Lab)
18. What steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of
housing in towns in the Makerfield constituency.(900884)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government ()
This Government are committed to delivering 1.5 million quality
homes over this Parliament. Under the Tories, house building
plummeted as they bowed to pressure from their Back Benchers to
scrap local housing targets. We are taking bold action to reform
our planning system, deliver a new generation of new towns and
unblock stalled housing sites.
I recently met members of Dover district council, who told me
that they are keen to help the Government where they can to
deliver our ambitious housing targets. Around the edge of Dover
High Street we often see consistently empty units. What can the
Government do to help us turn those into the housing that our
community so badly needs, and will the Minister meet me to
discuss how we can help?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Compulsory purchase orders
can be used by local authorities to acquire empty properties
where the authority can demonstrate that the acquisition would be
in the public interest. I am also aware that there is a problem
with homes built under section 106 agreements being left empty.
The Government will continue to work with house builders, local
authorities and affordable housing providers to tackle the
problems. I am sure that the Housing Minister will be happy to
meet him.
Mr Dillon
Will the Secretary of State consider allowing councils the
ability to buy land for houses based on current use rather than
hope value, and commit to reforming the Land Compensation Act
1961?
The hon. Member will know that we are looking at a number of
measures to help council houses to be built. Further measures
will be announced in the Budget, as I have mentioned in a written
ministerial statement today. We want councils and social housing
providers to be able to build those homes, and we will help them
as much as we can.
We know that the barriers to building more houses in towns such
as those I represent in Makerfield are often political, not
technical. For years, Conservative Members allowed themselves to
become mouthpieces for the blockers and the naysayers, which is
why, as co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, I welcome the
commitment by the Secretary of State to back builders. What steps
is her Department taking to increase the supply of housing in
towns such as those I represent in Makerfield?
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and the reason he is
here—he is absolutely correct on this—is that the previous
Government did nothing to help house building, and we did not see
growth either. This Government will reform our planning system,
deliver a new generation of new towns, unblock stalled housing
sites and reform the housing market, as well as delivering the
biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a
generation.
Mr Speaker
I call the Father of the House.
Sir (Gainsborough) (Con)
With so much good agricultural land now covered by solar panels,
how will the Government incentivise builders to build on
brownfield rather than good agricultural land, thus ensuring
regeneration rather than imperilling food security?
The right hon. Member will know that we have already set out a
number of steps, including the brownfield passport and the
national planning policy framework, and the use of local housing
targets to ensure that brownfield is used first and we get the
houses that we desperately need. For the last 14 years, the
Conservatives failed to meet their housing target every single
year. This Government are determined to meet our target.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Ruislip, Northwood and
Pinner) (Con)
Certainty for councils is vital for housing delivery, but given
the uncertainty created by the Government's new top-down targets,
which will delay the implementation of local plans and therefore
planning decisions, how confident are the Government of meeting
their housing targets?
Britain is facing the sharpest housing crisis ever because of the
failure of Conservative Members. We will ensure, through our
mandatory housing targets and in the announcements that have been
made, and that will be made in the Budget, that we get the houses
that Britain needs. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I do not want to hear a conversation all the way
through.
In the rush for numbers, we must not ignore the need to ensure
that new homes are built to appropriate standards. Given that the
Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government, the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (), has been stripped of
responsibility for building safety because of conflicts of
interest, can Ministers assure the House that the haste for
targets will not undermine building safety?
We will ensure that houses are built to decent homes standards,
which we have already set out, and that we meet those
targets—unlike in the 14 years under the Conservatives.
Local Authority Funding
Mr (Woking) (LD)
2. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for
her policies of shortfalls in council budgets.(900868)
(Lewes) (LD)
16. What assessment she has made of trends in the costs of
delivering statutory local government services in rural
areas.(900882)
(Clapham and Brixton
Hill) (Lab)
17. What steps she is taking with local authorities to help
ensure that they have adequate resources to fund local
services.(900883)
(Mid Sussex) (LD)
21. What steps she is taking to help ensure the financial
sustainability of local authorities.(900887)
The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution ()
Councils across the country, of all political stripes, work hard
to deliver vital public services in our country. We know that 14
years of mounting pressure is biting hard. We are committed to
moving towards a multi-year funding settlement, ending wasteful
bidding competitions that essentially set one council against
another. Last week, I met political group leaders at the Local
Government Association conference to understand what specific
demand pressures they are facing, and we are committed to working
together on those big issues. Members will know that we cannot
pre-empt the Budget statement due later in the week, but we are
of course fully engaged in that process. We stand ready to speak
to any council experiencing financial difficulties, as I
confirmed in my letter to MPs just over a week ago.
Mr Forster
As the Minister knows—I have met him to discuss this subject—my
local authority, Woking borough council, effectively went
bankrupt last year. It has had to cut services that many consider
essential, and it will have to consider cutting others. Does the
Minister agree that it is time for Government and Parliament to
review which services are classed as statutory and
non-statutory?
I thank the hon. Member for meeting me at one of our regular
drop-in sessions. His concern is reflected across the country.
Local communities recognise that their council is being forced to
choose vital neighbourhood services against targets for adult
social care, children's services and homelessness services. In
the end, we need to rebuild the foundation from scratch, and that
is exactly what we are committed to doing.
My constituency is largely rural and, as in many rural
constituencies, parish councils play an important role in local
government service delivery. Does the Minister agree about the
importance of parish councils to rural communities, and what role
does he see for parish councils as part of the Government's
devolution agenda?
We will of course publish a White Paper on the English devolution
Bill. It will set out an ambitious programme for a power shift
from this place and Whitehall to combined authorities, to local
government and, of course, to communities. We are absolutely
committed to that top-to-bottom power shift. We recognise that
parish and town councils have a role to play.
Rising demand, rising costs and 14 years of Conservative public
sector cuts mean that many local authorities and services are at
breaking point. My own borough of Lambeth, a deprived
inner-London area with higher demand for social housing and
temporary accommodation, and for social, public and youth
services, has been particularly affected, which has been quite
challenging. Will the Minister commit to an emergency increase in
funding to combat the immediate crisis for local authorities,
and, in the long term, to a much-needed update of the funding
formula to better reflect local need?
Like every Member of the House, my hon. Friend will know that
those 14 years have taken their toll, and that it will take more
than three months to repair that, but we are absolutely committed
to repairing the foundations, and our multi-year financial
settlements will give security. Of course, we recognise that the
demand-led pressures in many places are the back-end of a bigger
problem. Temporary accommodation relates to the housing crisis
that needs fixing. The same applies to children's services and
adult social care.
The financial future of West Sussex county council is bleak: it
faces a cumulative budget gap of over £200 million for 2029-30.
At present, 64% of the council's budget is being spent on adult
and children's social services, and that is set to rise. How will
the Minister ensure that West Sussex county council and others do
not have to close libraries, cut bus routes or reduce road
repairs in order to meet the growing demand for the most
vulnerable members of our community?
We always say that local government is paid for one way or the
other: either we pay at the front-end through fair funding being
fairly distributed across the country, or we pay at the back-end
because eventually the system falls over and we must repair the
damage. If we take ourselves back to the coalition years, when
austerity first came in, the cruelty was that we did not reform
public services, repairing them from the ground up, to get ahead
of those system changes. That was a wasted opportunity.
Mr (Hartlepool) (Lab)
This year, Hartlepool borough council is set to overspend on
children's social care by some £5 million, due in no small part
to the outrageous charges levied by private sector children's
homes. What can the Minister do to cap those providers' charges
to ensure that local government can continue to deliver its
statutory obligations?
I recognise that, in large part, children's services are the
funding pressures that are driving council budgets. We cannot
forget, though, that behind every one of those numbers is a child
who often is not getting the outcomes they need. Far too often
what we are seeing in the system is that high costs are not just
sending councils to the point of bankruptcy, but delivering worse
outcomes for young people. We want to see far more resilience
built back into the system, and there are examples today of
councils that are building that public sector provision back into
the marketplace.
(Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
The previous Government cut County Durham's budget by 60%, and we
have all seen the Royal Tunbridge Wells video in which the Leader
of the Opposition boasted about that act. That is having a real
impact on my constituents and the ability of Durham county
council to deliver vital services, so will the Minister consider
a discussion with Cabinet colleagues about revising those funding
formulas to take account of social care costs and
deprivation?
We did see the former Prime Minister taking great credit for
essentially shifting money from primarily urban and deprived
communities into rural shires in an overtly political way. I want
to ensure that in the funding review we are carrying out, whether
that is the initial rescue operation that will take place this
year or the recovery operation through the multi-year settlement,
we do not pit one council against another, but take an approach
that genuinely understands the needs, cost demands and cost
pressures faced by local authorities. In the end, though, we have
to accept that there is no fair funding at all if funding does
not reflect the deprivation in an area.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Mrs (North West Essex) (Con)
At the last oral questions, the Secretary of State assured me
that she had no plans to increase council tax for anyone.
However, when pressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for
Beverley and Holderness (), she would not give the same
guarantee that the single occupant discount would be retained.
Will Ministers take the opportunity to do so now?
I can see the shadow Secretary of State making that point
repeatedly, because at this stage we are all waiting for the
statement and the Budget that will contain that information, but
I can say that the right decisions will be made in the interests
of working people. We recognise the cost of living crisis that is
being faced across the country. I am sure that she, like all
Members of the House, is waiting with interest for Wednesday.
Mrs Badenoch
Local authorities employ 2 million people and commission services
such as adult social care. The impact assessment for the
Secretary of State's Employment Rights Bill says that the Bill
will increase costs. Those costs are likely to be passed on to
councils, so has the Secretary of State assessed the impact of
the Employment Rights Bill and an increase in employers' national
insurance specifically on local authorities? If costs do
increase, will local councils be compensated?
Any decisions related to the Budget will be taken at the
appropriate time, as will any decisions on the local government
finance settlement. What I can say, though, is that this is a new
partnership from this Government: we are not locking local
government out, but standing shoulder to shoulder with it. Only
last week at the Local Government Association conference in
Harrogate, the Secretary of State launched the leaders' council,
a forum where central and local government will reset that
relationship.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(Mid Dorset and North Poole)
(LD)
Rough sleeping is the most visible end of the homelessness
crisis, but it is also brutal—the average age of death for rough
sleepers in London is just 44. The rough sleeping initiative is
literally saving lives—in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole,
102 people are kept alive every year through that programme—but
it is due to end in March 2025. Removing it has been described by
local teams as nothing short of catastrophic, so what assessment
has taken place of the impact of that initiative, and what
assurance can the Secretary of State give local authorities about
the maintenance of the scheme so that they can plan for the long
term?
Again, I ask hon. Members to wait for the spending review on
Wednesday, and for the provisional settlement in December. We are
under no illusion about the pressures faced by councils on
homelessness. In the end, we need to repair the system, which is
about providing safe, secure and affordable housing for people to
live in. We will do that, but we also recognise that there is a
problem today. Further detail on that will follow.
New Homes Accelerator Programme: Stretton Hall
(Harborough, Oadby and
Wigston) (Con)
3. What plans her Department has to develop Stretton Hall through
the new homes accelerator programme.(900869)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
Stretton Hall is one of seven sites that the Government have
identified to date that we believe would benefit from support
through the new homes accelerator, which is a joint programme
between the Department and Homes England aiming to speed up the
delivery of large-scale housing developments across England.
Documents from Harborough district council reveal that there are
sites with a capacity of up to 16,000 homes around Stretton Hall.
The Government's press release in August said that there would be
around 4,000 homes on the site that they are involved in. Will
the Minister confirm which Minister visited the site before the
announcement? Will he agree to publish the methodology that led
to our community being selected, and the list of sites that were
considered but not selected?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I have not had the
opportunity to visit the site, but I intend to do so in the
future, along with the other new homes accelerator sites. On the
point of principle, to meet housing demand and housing need in
England, every area of the country must play its part. The site
in question is currently being promoted in both the Harborough
local plan and the Oadby and Wigston local plan, as it crosses
the boundary of both local authorities. Although I appreciate
that it does face a number of planning and enabling challenges,
the Government believe that it nevertheless has the potential to
make a significant contribution to housing supply in
Leicestershire.
Broadband Access and Mobile Signal
Mr (Taunton and Wellington)
(LD)
4. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure
that every property has access to either gigabit broadband or a
4G or 5G mobile signal.(900870)
(Honiton and Sidmouth)
(LD)
12. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure
that every property has access to either gigabit broadband or a
4G or 5G mobile signal.(900878)
(Wells and Mendip Hills)
(LD)
15. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure
that every property has access to either gigabit broadband or a
4G or 5G mobile signal. (900881)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government ()
It is essential to keep pace with growing demand for internet
bandwidth and mobile data from local businesses, residents and
those who visit our communities. That is why the Government's
ambition is to reach national gigabit and national 5G coverage as
soon as possible, by committing to support investment in
high-quality, reliable digital connectivity, so that communities
can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social
inclusion. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for
Science, Innovation and Technology is leading that work and will
provide an update in due course.
Mr Amos
In the parishes of Ruishton, West Hatch, Staple Fitzpaine and
Castle Neroche, the term “Connecting Devon and Somerset” is
clearly understood as exactly what is not happening in the two
counties, rather than a description of the so-called delivery
agency. Cabinets and trunk cables are in place, but there is
still no sign of houses being connected. Will the Minister or the
Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms, the hon. Member for
Rhondda and Ogmore (), meet MPs for the affected
areas to understand how those houses can finally be
connected?
I am grateful for the question, although I was sorry to hear it.
Those are contracts from the previous superfast broadband
programme, which has been superseded by Project Gigabit. That
means that Connecting Devon and Somerset is responsible for the
management and oversight of the contracts, which are jointly
funded by central Government and local authorities. The
communities in discussion deserve a high-quality service, so I or
the Minister for Telecoms will meet the hon. Member.
The village of Gittisham in Devon is also subject to Connecting
Devon and Somerset. Four different companies have attempted to
enable broadband access, but the fibre often stops 100 metres
short of the houses. Gittisham is also a 4G notspot, so residents
are cut off and unable to contribute to the economic growth that
the Government say they want to see. According to the Labour
manifesto, the Government's target for achieving broadband
coverage is 2030, but can the Minister offer a percentage of
broadband coverage that will be achieved in rural areas in this
Parliament?
The hon. Gentleman rightly refers to our manifesto commitment,
and he has heard a commitment today that we want to see full
gigabit and full national 5G roll-out as soon as possible. We are
getting on with it, but I am sorry to hear that there are issues.
As I am keen to meet the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington
(Mr Amos), I may well meet him too, if he is similarly keen.
Third time lucky: it is Somerset here. I know that the Government
want services—finding a home, looking for help, paying taxes,
working, and even learning during covid—to be accessed online,
but in my part of mid and north Somerset, people can only dream
of gigabit broadband; they would be really happy if they had
superfast. Can the Minister investigate how to inspire a national
broadband roll-out programme that is realistic? Is it time for a
new national plan, as access to superfast broadband has so many
holes and still costs billions?
I am grateful for the hon. Lady's question, and I think of the
challenges in my own constituency, where my constituents ask me
questions in a similar vein. To be very clear, the Government
know that the market will be able to provide considerable
coverage across the country, but that there will always be
communities—including her own, I suspect—where that has
traditionally been a challenge, and we are committed to making
sure that that gap is filled. We have the same aspiration and, as
I say, we intend to meet it as soon as we possibly can.
(South West Norfolk) (Lab)
rose—
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Jermy, you started to bob and then you stopped, so I
was not sure you had a question, but please let us hear it.
Many rural villages in my constituency have spent hours producing
excellent neighbourhood plans, with some areas hoping to go to
public referendum and adoption soon. Given that such plans help
communities to shape growth, will the Minister confirm what
prominence the Government will afford neighbourhood plans as part
of planning reforms?
Our commitment as a Government is to bring communities into that
conversation and to make sure local leadership has that say in
the service of a wider national goal.
Property Management Services
(Cheltenham) (LD)
5. If she will take steps to regulate property management service
providers.(900871)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
The Government are committed to ensuring that those living in the
rented and leasehold sectors are protected from abuse and poor
service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents. The
Government will set out our position on the regulation of
letting, managing and estate agents in due course.
I thank the Minister for his reply. My constituent Paul faces
inflation-busting maintenance cost rises and unexpected in-year
fees. His attempts to scrutinise FirstPort's work and his
willingness to fight back have resulted in an exchange of letters
with solicitors. When my hard-working office team asked FirstPort
for an explanation of what is going on, the company took more
than six weeks to reply with inadequate answers, and it did so
only when I took the step of contacting it personally to say that
I was raising its name in the House today. While long-awaited
changes are being considered, what would the Minister advise my
constituent and others like him to do in the meantime?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question, and I am sorry to
hear about Paul's experience with that particular property
management company—an experience that will, I know, be reflected
in the experiences of many others across the country. There are
two existing routes to redress in such circumstances, the
property redress scheme and the property ombudsman scheme, to
which people can submit complaints. I will happily write to the
hon. Gentleman to set out in full the various sources of advice
and support and the avenues for redress that his constituent
might pursue before we bring in more fundamental changes to the
regulation of the sector.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
I should draw the House's attention to the fact I am a
leaseholder subject to service charges, as are hundreds of my
constituents. There is very often a real lack of transparency and
accountability from service providers. Bills are not very clear,
and it takes quite a lot of effort to understand them. The
Government could regulate, but will the Minister use his
convening powers to encourage service providers to do better,
prior to discussing legislation that could take a very long
time?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I am more than happy to
look into what more can be done by convening to get the various
interested parties around the table. The Government are committed
to implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold
Reform Act 2024, which includes measures to increase the
transparency and standardisation of service charges and empower
leaseholders in that way.
Planning Reform
(Halesowen) (Lab)
6. What recent progress her Department has made on planning
reform.(900872)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
The Government are making rapid progress on reforming our
planning system. We launched a consultation on proposed reforms
to the national planning policy framework within our first month
in office, and my Department is analysing responses with a view
to publishing a Government response before the end of the year.
As was set out in the King's Speech, we intend to bring forward a
planning and infrastructure Bill in this parliamentary Session to
accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and
housing.
I thank the Minister for his update. My constituents in Halesowen
recognise that homes have been unaffordable to first-time buyers
and welcome these planning changes, but they are frustrated by
some of the scaremongering from the Opposition. Can the Minister
reassure my constituents that protecting the environment will be
central to our planning changes as we roll out lots of additional
new houses?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I assure him and the
House that the Government are committed to securing better
environmental outcomes alongside facilitating the development
that our country so desperately needs. In our consultation on
proposed reforms to the NPPF, we made it clear that land
safeguarded by existing environmental designations will maintain
its current protections. We are exploring how we might streamline
house building and infrastructure delivery by using development
to fund nature recovery where both are currently stalled.
However, we have made it clear that we will act with legislation
only when we have confirmed to Parliament that the steps we are
taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes.
(West Suffolk) (Con)
Ministers dropped the last Government's plan for the development
of Cambridge and connections to nearby towns including Haverhill
in my constituency. When will the Government come forward with an
integrated plan to develop Cambridge and improve road and rail
links to towns like Haverhill?
I wrote to local leaders in the greater Cambridge area a few
weeks ago to make it clear that the Government believe the area
is a site where we should take forward nationally significant
housing growth. We will set out further details in due course,
but the hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Cambridge growth
company is taking plans and pulling together an evidence base to
set out precisely what the scale of development should be and how
it should take place in that area.
Green Belt Protection: Farnham and Bordon
(Farnham and Bordon)
(Con)
9. What steps she is taking to protect the green belt in Farnham
and Bordon constituency.(900875)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
The Government attach great importance to the green belt,
including the more than 20,000 hectares in the borough of
Waverley in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. In planning terms,
the green belt serves a number of specific purposes, but the
fundamental aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl
by keeping land permanently open. The Government do not intend to
change the general purposes of the green belt or its general
extent, but we are committed to taking a more strategic approach
to green-belt land designation and release so that we can build
more homes in the right places.
I thank the Minister for that response, but the Government are
proposing to double the housing targets in Waverley and East
Hampshire. Over 57% of East Hampshire is in the South Downs
national park, so it rightly cannot be built on, but if the
target is still based on 100% of the East Hampshire district,
that causes massive pressures on the rest of the district,
including places such as Whitehill and Bordon, Liphook, Headley
and Grayshott. Will the Government commit to looking into this
inherent unfairness, which is totally unsustainable for my area,
and will he meet me and local councillors to discuss it
further?
I am more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the
matter further. On the principled point he raises, when local
authorities are developing local development plans they can put a
case forward to the inspectorate to be tested in examination,
where they specify hard constraints of the type the hon.
Gentleman has identified. When we talk about housing targets, we
are talking about an identified housing need for a particular
area, but those local plans will be tested by the inspectorate at
examination to take into account some of the concerns he has
raised.
Social Housing Supply
David (North Northumberland) (Lab)
10. What steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of
social housing.(900876)
(Wolverhampton West)
(Lab)
23. What steps she is taking to build more affordable
homes.(900889)
(Rugby) (Lab)
25. What steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of
social housing.(900891)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government ()
This Government are getting on with fixing the mess the Tories
left behind. We will deliver the biggest increase in social and
affordable house building in a generation, and at the Budget this
week the Chancellor will set out the next steps, including an
additional £500 million for the existing affordable homes
programme to deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable
homes.
David
I thank the Secretary of State for her answer. Conservative-run
Northumberland county council's own figures show that over 6,000
people in Northumberland are not adequately housed. Despite that,
since the Conservatives have led the council, its own housing
stock has decreased in number. Does the Secretary of State agree
that we need more social homes in the right places to support the
thousands of people in North Northumberland in need of a safe and
secure place to live?
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and he is absolutely
right: it is a source of national shame that just over 1.3
million households are on social housing waiting lists. Nearly
14,000 of them are in Northumberland alone. This Government do
not accept that it has to be this way; we will deliver a fairer,
more sustainable right-to-buy scheme where existing social
housing stock is protected to meet housing need. I recognise the
particular housing challenges faced by rural communities, and
that is why the Government announced that the 2021 to 2026
affordable homes programme will be targeted, so that 5% to 10% of
delivery outside London will be homes in rural areas.
Our plan to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament must
include the building of affordable homes, which implies that we
will build more council housing. What reassurance can the
Secretary of State give to my constituents in Wolverhampton West
that they will have access to good-quality affordable homes,
particularly for first-time buyers, and that if they need social
housing, they will not have to wait excessive periods of time to
get a council house?
Again, my hon. Friend makes an important point. We want to
support councils to make a greater contribution to affordable
housing supply. That is why the Chancellor will set out at the
Budget our plans to allow councils to keep 100% of the receipts
generated by right-to-buy sales and to increase protections for
newly built social homes. We are committed to giving first-time
buyers a first chance to buy homes and to introducing a
permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme.
At Rugby borough council, there are 300 households on the waiting
list for social houses. Officers and councillors are working hard
to meet the demand. They have knocked down older tower blocks and
are replacing them with one to four-bed, energy-efficient,
good-quality homes. Last year was the first year for many years
that they built or acquired more social homes than were lost
through right to buy. Does my right hon. Friend agree that while
that is good work, my council is ultimately able only to tread
water? My constituents who are in need of decent, affordable
social homes desperately need a Government who will help councils
to reverse this trend. Will she consider visiting Rugby to see
the great work being done in difficult circumstances?
I once got stranded in Rugby on a train, so I have visited that
wonderful area before. I am in complete agreement with my hon.
Friend; councils should not be losing homes through right to buy
quicker than they can be replaced. It is great to hear that
councillors in Rugby are working hard to meet demand. The
Chancellor will set out at the Budget the action we are taking to
reduce right-to-buy discounts to deliver a more sustainable
scheme. We will also increase protections on newly built social
housing to allow councils to keep 100% of the receipts generated
by right-to-buy sales.
(Ashfield) (Reform)
In Ashfield, we have a big problem with nuisance tenants in
social housing, who are creating mayhem and upsetting their
neighbours and the neighbourhood with crime, antisocial
behaviour, drug dealing and so on. Does the Secretary of State
agree that these nuisance tenants should be given one chance, and
if they cannot behave themselves, they should be evicted and
refused access to social housing in the future?
I agree with the hon. Member about nuisance neighbours; we do
need to do something about that. That is why there are
provisions, so that councils can take action on people who are
nuisance neighbours. They should not be terrorising other people
who are trying to live nice lives.
(Chichester) (LD)
I pay tribute to Westbourne community land trust, which, after
six long hard years, has finally started delivering affordable
homes for its community. That is exciting for the trust, and I
was delighted to put a spade in the ground when it started
building. Does the Secretary of State agree that communities are
best placed to understand the need for housing in their area?
Will she make it easier for community land trusts to acquire land
and build homes quickly?
The hon. Member makes an important point, and I welcome her to
her place. We want to see communities being able to build houses,
and we want to ensure that those houses are safe and secure and
that we work with community housing trusts and others to deliver
the 1.5 million homes. I am sure that the Housing Minister will
be happy to meet her to discuss the matter.
Sir Ashley (Bridgwater) (Con)
There are private developers in my constituency in Bridgwater
that have obligations to build social homes and are ready to do
so. The difficulty they face is that there is no social landlord
available to take those units. What steps will the Deputy Prime
Minister take to ensure that those units can be built to house
local people?
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I am aware of those
concerns, and the Government will continue to work with house
builders, local authorities and affordable housing providers to
tackle the problem. We need to make sure that section 106 notices
are adhered to and that when we have affordable and social
housing on those sites, they are tenanted and people are in
there.
NPPF: Fast Food Outlets
Dr (Worthing West) (Lab)
11. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of
section 8 of the national planning policy framework on the number
of fast food outlets.(900877)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
The Government are committed to improving public health and
reducing health inequalities. As part of the consultation on
proposed reforms to the national planning policy framework, we
sought views on how national planning policy could better support
local authorities in promoting healthy communities and
specifically in tackling childhood obesity. The framework already
expects policies at a local level to aim to achieve healthy
places, and we are considering how to ensure that a more
consistent approach is taken, for example in relation to
controlling hot food takeaways near schools.
Dr Cooper
I thank the Minister for the update. Will he consider working
with Cabinet and Health colleagues to empower local authorities
to regulate physical junk food adverts around schools and on
public transport?
As I said in my original response, we recently consulted on how
the planning system could do more to support the creation of
healthy places. I will continue to work closely with colleagues
in the Department of Health and Social Care when considering next
steps, as well as engaging with local authorities. As I said in
answer to a previous question, my Department is analysing
responses to the NPPF consultation with a view to issuing a
Government response before the end of the year.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I always try to be helpful to the Minister, and I thank him for
his answer. In Northern Ireland, the steps we have taken on fast
food outlets include close liaison with school principals to
ensure that pupils do not access carry-out food, and addressing
the issue of litter, which is the responsibility of fast food
outlets. Perhaps the Minister might want to contact the relevant
Northern Ireland Department to gauge what has worked for us.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question, which is as helpful
as ever. I always look at the experience of other nations on
planning reform. I recently met the Housing Minister from the
devolved Northern Ireland Assembly, and I will happily contact
him about this specific point to see what lessons we can
learn.
Furniture Poverty
(Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
(Lab)
13. What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on
reducing levels of furniture poverty.(900879)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government ()
We regularly discuss a wide range of topics with ministerial
colleagues, including the important matter of tackling poverty,
and we also have the ministerial child poverty taskforce. The
lack of furniture and other goods is an issue for many people in
our country and it contributes to poor outcomes. We are
absolutely committed to tackling poverty and inequality, and the
household support fund for local authorities, administered by the
Department for Work and Pensions, provides considerable support
towards that.
I welcome that response. Eight per cent of families in this
country are in deep furniture poverty. I have seen at first hand
the impact of that: people are unable to have a hot meal without
a microwave or a cooker and are unable to have a decent night's
sleep without a bed—they sleep on the floor with a mattress or a
duvet. Will my hon. Friend meet me and the End Furniture Poverty
campaign to discuss what more we can do as a Government locally
and nationally to tackle this issue?
My hon. Friend makes important points about the impact of the
lack of these essential items through poverty, and I am happy to
meet him and the End Furniture Poverty campaign.
Rebecca (South West Devon) (Con)
Clearly, people need a home to be able to furnish it in the first
place, so what action is being taken across Government to address
the barriers that care-experienced young people face in accessing
the private rented sector, including through guarantor and
deposit schemes?
As the hon. Member will be aware, we have a plan to tackle
homelessness and rough sleeping, and the Deputy Prime Minister is
leading the ministerial taskforce on ending homelessness. My
colleagues have highlighted the work that we are doing to build
1.5 million homes. This is an absolute priority for us and I look
forward to working with hon. Members on this issue.
Leasehold Reform
(Jarrow and Gateshead East)
(Lab)
14. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold
system.(900880)
(Dartford) (Lab)
22. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold
system.(900888)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
The Government intend to act quickly to provide homeowners with
greater rights, powers and protections over their homes by
implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform
Act 2024. Over the course of this Parliament, we will further
reform the leasehold system to honour the commitments made in our
manifesto. To that end, the Government have made it clear that
they intend to publish draft legislation on leasehold and
commonhold reform in this parliamentary Session.
My constituent David has reported that his service charge has
tripled in the past few years, even though dangerous cladding has
still not been removed, leaving him in a leasehold debt trap with
an unsellable property. I thank the Minister for confirming our
intention to abolish the whole feudal system of leasehold, but
what more can be done in the meantime to help people to challenge
unfair service charges?
One of the most urgent things we need to do—we are working on
this at pace—is to bring into force the provisions of the
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act. As I made clear in response to
an earlier question, that will increase transparency and
standardisation across service charges, but we want to go
further. We are committed to finally bringing the feudal
leasehold system to an end, and across the Parliament that is
precisely what we will do.
In Dartford, residents in new build estates in Ebbsfleet and
elsewhere all too frequently experience opaque and unaccountable
charging practices on the part of management companies, who seem
far more motivated by making a profit than by providing services.
What comfort can the Minister offer my constituents that these
management companies will be brought within a fair and
accountable legal framework in the near future?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question and recognise his
constituent's experience. As outlined in the King's Speech, the
Government are committed to bringing the injustice of
“fleecehold” private estates and unfair costs to an end. We will
consult in due course on the best way to achieve that. In the
interim, as I said, we need to implement the new protections for
homeowners on private estates in the Leasehold and Freehold
Reform Act 2024. That will create a new regulatory framework to
make estate management companies more accountable to homeowners
for how their money is spent.
Sir (New Forest East) (Con)
Against my wishes and advice, the previous Government brought in
a planning presumption in favour of applications to add extra
floors to apartment blocks, irrespective of the horrible effect
of building those extra floors, and attempts by rogue freeholders
to sting the leaseholders for the remedial works resulting from
errors in building grafted-on extra floors. As a short-term
measure, will the Minister consider removing that presumption in
favour of planning permission for these ill-considered
schemes?
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that point. He is
absolutely right that the previous Government significantly
expanded permitted development rights after 2013. We acknowledge
the criticism of those expanded rights, particularly because of
the low-quality development that they have brought forward. He
raises a specific issue for leaseholders, but the problem goes
wider than that. I am more than happy to give consideration to
the point he raises.
Mr Gagan (South West Hertfordshire)
(Con)
I welcome the Minister to his place. The Labour party has
proposed several reforms to the private rental sector, including
to the leasehold system, which will only punish landlords, more
of whom will sell up. At a time when people are struggling to get
on the property ladder, why are this Government determined to
drive out landlords and reduce the supply of available rental
properties for those who rely on them?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point, though it is not about
leasehold but about the private rental sector. Our Renters'
Rights Bill, which is currently in Committee, poses no threat to
good landlords. Indeed, it will improve the situation for good
landlords by driving out unscrupulous and rogue landlords from
the system. As part of that Bill, landlords have robust grounds
to take back possession of their properties when it is
appropriate to do so. What they cannot do is arbitrarily evict
tenants through section 21. We will finally abolish section 21
no-fault evictions where the previous Government failed to do
so.
Topical Questions
(Hazel Grove) (LD)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental
responsibilities.(900892)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government ()
As I have already told the House, this week's Budget will set out
our next steps to put us on the path to delivering the biggest
increase in social and affordable house building in a generation.
The Chancellor will set out further details on a number of
measures, including a cash injection for the affordable homes
programme, confirming funding for new social housing projects and
a consultation on a long-term social housing rent settlement. We
will provide certainty and stability, and reform right to buy to
deliver a fair, sustainable scheme.
Hazel Grove's 16 and 17-year-olds are all bright and articulate
and never backwards in coming forwards to tell me what we need to
do in this place, but they are denied their voice at the ballet
box, unlike their Scottish and Welsh peers. When will the
Government correct this imbalance, deliver on their manifesto
promise and roll out votes at 16 across the United Kingdom?
Far be it from me to take on the Hazel Grove 16 and 17
year-olds—the hon. Member knows that I know Hazel Grove very
well. This Government are committed to our manifesto commitment
to give votes at 16, and we will make sure that we do that before
the next general election.
(Hastings and Rye)
(Lab/Co-op)
In 2022, Lubov Chernukhin opened an amusement centre in Hastings
town centre known as Owens. The project received more than
£400,000 of taxpayer money as part of the Conservatives'
levelling up towns fund plans. Ms Chernukhin has also donated
more than £200,000 to the Conservative party. Shortly after
opening, Owens closed, and earlier this month it was covered in
boarding, which now dominates Hastings town centre. Can the
Minister advise me how my constituents can get their money back,
and how we can ensure that money is never wasted again like
that?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government ()
I was very disappointed to hear about the closure of Owens and
about any money wasted under the previous Government. My
officials are working with my hon. Friend's council to maximise
the remaining funding available from its town deal. On the
general point, we are calling time on the waste from the previous
Government, and moving towards multi-year funding settlements and
ending competitive bidding for pots of money.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Mrs (North West Essex) (Con)
Labour made a big song and dance about tackling rogue landlords.
No doubt Labour Members will have been made aware of revelations
reported in The Londoner this morning about the hon. Member for
Ilford South (). Not only is he letting out
mouldy homes with infestation, but he is the landlord of an
unsafe private care home where children have gone missing and
been left at risk of criminal exploitation. Do the Government
have plans to tackle the rogue landlord on their own Benches?
I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her question. As I
understand it, the Member for Ilford South says in his statement
that there have been no conflicts of interest and that all
interests have been declared in line with his council's
rules.
Mr Speaker
I presume the shadow Secretary of State let the hon. Member for
Ilford South know that she was going to mention him on the Floor
of the House.
Mrs Badenoch
No, I did not.
Mr Speaker
I say to all Members that mentioning other Members cannot be done
without giving notice. I presume the right hon. Lady's second
question will be on a different issue.
Mrs Badenoch
I apologise, Mr Speaker. I will check with my office. I cannot
say for certain that they did not let the hon. Member know.
Does the right hon. Lady agree that reducing the capacity of
councils by 20% by allowing workers an additional paid day off
every week—that is what a four-day week actually is—is
unacceptable and does not provide good value for money for
taxpayers or residents?
I am really proud of our Employment Rights Bill and I am really
proud to stand here as someone who advocates for flexible
working. We do not dictate to councils how they run their
services; we work with councils. The right hon. Lady should be
able to work out that flexible working is no threat to business
and no threat to the economy. In fact, it will boost
productivity.
(Southampton Itchen)
(Lab)
T4. Southampton Itchen has the worst cases of unsafe cladding in
Hampshire and fire safety works are taking years to get started,
so residents are stuck in properties they cannot move out of or
sell. Will the Secretary of State please update the House on what
she is doing to ensure that developers and freeholders get on
with urgent safety works and protect leaseholders from
extortionate costs? Will she meet me and local
councillors?(900896)
As a Government, we have been clear that the pace of remediation
has been far too slow. The Deputy Prime Minister and I will be
meeting developers to review their progress and to agree a joint
plan for accelerating remediation in the coming weeks. I am, of
course, very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss these
issues, and meet with constituents if that is helpful too.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(Mid Dorset and North Poole)
(LD)
High streets are the beating hearts of our communities. Those in
places such as Broadstone in my constituency are really bouncing
back and reinventing themselves. The public assume that councils
are able to flex business rates and that they own most
properties, but we all know that that is not the case. Will the
Minister provide a timeline for the reform of business rates, and
assure pubs and shops that their existing reliefs will be
maintained?
I am afraid the hon. Lady puts me in quite the pickle. With less
than 48 hours before a fiscal event she would not expect me to
pre-empt the Chancellor, but we have heard the hon. Lady's calls
and those from business. Alongside any rates changes, we will
seek to provide the tools, such as high street rental auctions or
community right to buy, to give communities control of their high
streets again.
(Ashford) (Lab)
T5. I recently met local businesses in my constituency to discuss
what can be done to attract more people to visit our high
streets. Will the Minister set out what action the Government are
taking to help regenerate local high streets, and will he meet me
to discuss this issue further?(900897)
We all want to see our high streets thriving. It is the business
of government, local councils and local communities to push back
on some of the decline that has been seen as inevitable in recent
years. As part of that, we will be giving local communities the
tools to reshape their high streets, such as high street rental
auctions and the community right to buy.
(Orpington) (Con)
T3. , the Mayor of London, has
consistently called for the power to impose rent controls across
Greater London. He cannot do that unless the Government change
the law. Whenever it has been tried around the world it has
failed, typically with rental property supply falling and rents
perversely rising. Will the Secretary of State take this
opportunity now to rule out the possibility of imposing rent
controls in Greater London?(900895)
The Minister for Housing and Planning ()
As the shadow Minister will know from our exchanges in the
Renters' Rights Bill Committee, the Government have absolutely no
plans to introduce rent controls in any form.
Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)
T9. Consett, Blaydon and other towns across the north-east are
keen to play their part in growing our local economies, and one
of the things that growth comes from is making work pay. In the
first 100 days of a Labour Government, the Secretary of State has
delivered the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation.
Can she update the House on her work in supporting the new deal
for working people?(900901)
The new deal for working people is contained in the Employment
Rights Bill, which had its Second Reading last week. We will
continue to push forward other measures that do not require
legislation, but what we hope to see is a new culture between
business, trade unions and local communities to ensure that work
really does pay.
Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)
T6. Ministers have acknowledged in reply to earlier questions
that they recognise the financial pressures being placed on local
authorities, especially in connection with children's services
and adult social care. Whatever may or may not be in the Budget,
can the Minister reassure council tax payers that they will not
bear an undue burden as a result of any changes?(900898)
The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution ()
This Government are acutely aware of the impact of the cost of
living crisis on working people, and that is firmly in our sights
as we approach the spending review this week, but we will have to
repair a fair amount of the system, not just the finances. The
early warning audit has been left shattered following 14 years of
mismanagement, and single-year settlements have left councils not
knowing from one year to the next how much money they have to
spend, so we will have to introduce multi-year settlements. There
is a great deal of work to do, and we cannot repair 14 years of
damage in three months, but we are well on the way to it.
Mr (Sheffield South East)
(Lab)
Let me first draw attention to my declared interest as a trustee
of Fields in Trust.
In the last Parliament, the Housing, Communities and Local
Government Committee received a large amount of evidence
concerning the importance of well-designed open spaces for
children and young people, but the national planning policy
framework mentions them once and mentions bats twice. Is it not
about time we got our priorities right, and did more to improve
the design of—
Mr Speaker
Order. Just a minute, please! One of us will have to give
way.
The hon. Gentleman is one of the most senior Members of
Parliament. He should be looking at me when he is asking a
question, not at the Minister. Come on, Clive: I am
better-looking.
Mr Betts
I will agree with you on the latter point, Mr Speaker.
Will the Minister tell us whether he will change the guidance in
future to place more emphasis on the importance to children and
young people of properly designed open space?
Mr Speaker
But not in this instance! [Laughter.]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government ()
The national planning policy guidance will recognise the
importance of high-quality open spaces and opportunities for
sports, physical activity, health and wellbeing in our
communities. Our proposals to release grey-belt land for
development will depend on developers' meeting one of the “golden
rules” and ensuring that all new developments have accessible
green space.
(Edinburgh West) (LD)
T7. My constituency, like most others, is seeing a great deal of
new housing being built, which means more infrastructure, more
business and more opportunities for growth. Key to that, however,
is access to reliable, high-speed broadband. Given the SNP
Government's previous failures to deliver gigabit broadband to
every home as promised, can the Minister tell us what discussions
are taking place and what consideration is being given to
supporting its efficient delivery in Scotland?(900899)
Through Project Gigabit we have a commitment to level up all
communities in the United Kingdom, and through the welcome work
of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister we have a
commitment to reset relationships with the devolved
Administrations. Hopefully, by putting those two together, we
will be able to make significant progress.
(Burnley) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Secretary of State for everything that she is doing
to tackle Islamo-phobia. This anti-Muslim discourse is a scourge
on our communities in Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield. Will she
join me in celebrating the work of local volunteers, churches,
mosques, Lancashire police and others who organised Burnley's
“Diversity Picnic—Bubbles in the Park”, and who worked so
successfully in averting potential disturbances over the
summer?
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I cannot wait to join
him at Bubbles in the Park on a future date, as Burnley is not
that far away from my constituency. He is absolutely right to
celebrate the work of volunteers in communities and public
servants, who give their time and energy to strengthen our local
areas and bring people together.
(Lewes) (LD)
T8. Talland Parade is an abandoned and dilapidated row of shops
in Seaford, in my constituency. It has stood empty for 12 years,
despite having planning permission in place for much-needed
flats. The council had to take the developer to the High Court
just to get some scaffolding removed at the site. Will the
Minister meet me to discuss the site, and will the Government
consider expanding compulsory purchase powers for councils to
allow them to acquire such key sites?(900900)
I am grateful for the question. Of course, I would be very happy
to have a meeting. I point the hon. Gentleman towards the very
helpful innovation of high street rental auctions at the back end
of this year, which will give local authorities the tools to
bring into use vacant units and to make sure that developers know
that they must use them or let somebody else do so.
(West Lancashire) (Lab)
The planned increase in housing supply is crucial, as we all
know, but my residents in West Lancashire are concerned about
access to services. Can the Secretary of State tell us what she
is doing to ensure that the increase in housing supply is met
with the relevant infrastructure and access to services?
It is incredibly important that the relevant infrastructure,
amenities and services are in place. We have taken a number of
steps to better support that in the short period we have been in
office, not least through the national planning policy framework,
but there is more to be done in that area. I will keep it under
very close review.
(Mid Bedfordshire)
(Con)
What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the merits of
reforming the planning system to introduce new measures to help
reduce flood risk?
The national planning policy framework is very clear that
inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be
avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk,
including flood plains. We consulted in the national planning
policy framework consultation and sought views on how the
planning system can more effectively manage flood risk. As I say,
my Department is analysing responses, with a view to publishing a
Government response before the end of the year.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
(Vauxhall and Camberwell
Green) (Lab/Co-op)
The Secretary of State will know the financial difficulties
facing so many of our local authorities. A recent Local
Government Association report shows that one in four local
authorities will apply for additional funding. It is fair to say
that, for a number of them, March will be too late. What
discussions have been had with the Chancellor to ensure that our
local authorities get emergency support?
May I welcome the Chair of the Select Committee to her place? She
will do an outstanding job for local government and housing.
The Government absolutely understand how difficult it is for
local authorities to make ends meet. We understand that the
pressures in adult social care, children's social services and
temporary accommodation are biting hard, and we are working
through those issues with the sector.
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