Rachel Maclean: Part 11 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill includes relevant provisions and is under consideration in the House of Lords.
Rachel Maclean: As part of creating a fair and just housing system, the Government is committed to making sure that homeowners and tenants are protected from abuse and poor service. Further announcements will be made in the usual way.
Rachel Maclean: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shares the cross-government objective of increasing the use of modern methods of construction. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.
Rachel Maclean: That sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable. I thank my hon. Friend for bringing it to our attention. We are committing to providing buyers of new build houses with strong powers of redress. We have legislated to establish the new homes ombudsman scheme in the Building Safety Act 2022, membership of which will be mandatory for developers.
Rachel Maclean: Last year we launched a consultation on regulations relating to LAs applying a local connection test for victims of domestic abuse who apply for social housing. We are currently reviewing the responses.
Rachel Maclean: The £250 million of additional funding for the Local Authority Housing Fund in England is funded from DLUHC departmental budgets.
Rachel Maclean: ...methods of construction (MMC) which has the capability of unlocking a range of benefits including increased energy efficiency, quicker delivery of new homes and improving the diversity of the housing sector.
Rachel Maclean: The Brownfield Land Release Fund was launched in April 2021 and is supporting local authorities to release their surplus brownfield sites for housing by March 2024.
Rachel Maclean: The Government has committed to a new taskforce to look at how we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people. On 4 April we announced the appointment of Professor Julienne Meyer as the new independent Chair of the taskforce. Ministers look forward to hearing the taskforce's views and advice in the coming months.
Rachel Maclean: Housing in Scotland is a devolved matter. The Government does not support the introduction of rent controls in the private rented sector which would set the level of rent. Evidence suggests that these would discourage investment and would lead to declining property standards as a result, which would not help landlords and would worsen conditions for tenants.
Rachel Maclean: The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which since 1980 has enabled over two million social housing tenants to become homeowners.
Rachel Maclean: The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which since 1980 has enabled over two million social housing tenants to become homeowners. Any future announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Rachel Maclean: The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which since 1980 has enabled over two million social housing tenants to become homeowners. Any future announcements will be set out in the usual way. The Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot was independently evaluated by RSM Economic Consulting, with the report published in 2021.
Rachel Maclean: Further to the measures under debate in the Social Housing Regulation Bill, approaches to regeneration should have the support of a majority of residents. Residents and the wider community should have the opportunity to have a say on the choices and options, master-planning and design.
Rachel Maclean: ...of a short-term let use class and associated permitted development rights. Those changes would give councils more control over the number of new short-term lets and help them to meet local housing needs.
Rachel Maclean: The Government are committed to increasing affordable housing of all kinds, which is why we are investing £11.5 billion, through the affordable homes programme, to deliver tens of thousands of homes for rent and sale right across the country.
Rachel Maclean: Currently all houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) in which 5 or more unrelated people live, or 3 or more in areas with additional licensing, must be licensed, including those occupied by asylum seekers.
Rachel Maclean: I thank the hon. Gentleman. He is probably the only Member of this House who has real experience of the system working.
Rachel Maclean: The department does not hold this data. Social tenants are not prevented from running a business from their home under current housing legislation, but some tenancy agreements may include terms preventing them from doing so. We would expect landlords not to withhold permission unreasonably.
Rachel Maclean: The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and reflect this in planning policies, including through their site allocations.
