Rachel Maclean: The Department is carefully considering the impact of our reforms on the student housing market. We recognise there is a general annual lettings cycle and are considering solutions, such as a ground for possession that enables landlords to guarantee vacant possession for next year's tenants. Any solution needs to balance the needs of both students and landlords, and we will continue to engage...
Rachel Maclean: ...all from her. I saw her work as the Home Secretary, which is definitely the most difficult job in Government. Back to matters connected to Witham, we share my right hon. Friend’s desire for the housing and planning system to work for absolutely everybody. We want to make this a country of home ownership. We are the party of home ownership, and we completely agree with her that we want to...
Rachel Maclean: ...on a planning application. However, if she will allow me, I will investigate that issue and see what more I can do to unblock it in my capacity as planning Minister. If she is referring to the housing infrastructure fund, I may be able to assist her. I will finish by raising the issue of the class Q permitted development raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham. The part 12...
Rachel Maclean: .... I have visited his constituency, and although I have not spent a lot of time there I recognise the picture he paints. I look forward to receiving his report and I will study it. On issues such as housing, which he cares so much about—as do we all—it is important that we work across our United Kingdom. I want to reassure him that we work closely with the Welsh Government through our...
Rachel Maclean: Data on First Homes starts is published in the Government's 'live tables on affordable housing supply'. The data on starts (for 2021-2022) is incomplete, however, as Homes England does not record starts of First Homes separately and local authorities only provide data on starts on site on a voluntary basis. The early delivery programme is set to conclude this September at a cost of up to...
Rachel Maclean: DLUHC does not hold data on the availability of adapted housing in Walsall. However, local authorities including Walsall have a statutory duty to provide home adaptations to eligible disabled people, subject to a means test and assessment of need through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). On 10 May, DLUHC provided each local authority with their allocation of the £573 million funding for...
Rachel Maclean: ...for short term lets and associated permitted development rights' and the 'Consultation on a registration scheme for short-term lets in England' closed on 7 June. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Culture Media and Sport are in the process of analysing responses for their respective consultations. Further announcements will be made in due course.
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: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing. We are currently investing £11.5 billion through our Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver tens of thousands of homes for rent and sale right across the country. Since 2010 we have delivered over 632,600 new affordable homes, including over 441,612 affordable homes for rent, of which over 162,800 homes have...
Rachel Maclean: ...232,000 homes for the last year for which data is available – over 75% of the way towards our goal of ensuring there are 300,000 new homes a year. We have announced £10 billion investment in housing supply since the start of this Parliament, with our housing supply interventions due to ultimately unlock over 1 million new homes over the Spending Review 2021 period and beyond. We are...
Rachel Maclean: ...Howden (Mr Davis) for securing this important debate. It is a tribute to him that so many people have come to the Chamber to reflect the experiences of their constituents and to speak about local housing conditions. I thank the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Andrew Western); the two former Housing Ministers who spoke, my right hon. Friends the Members for North West Hampshire (Kit...
Rachel Maclean: ...Government, and it is fantastic compared with the woeful record of the last Labour Government. At the same time, we are not complacent about the scale of the challenges that have dogged England’s housing market for decades, as many hon. Members have mentioned: demand outstripping supply, local shortages and residents being priced out of the places they grew up in. That is why we have...
Rachel Maclean: ...forgive me, because I have a lot to get on the record. My right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden has passionately advocated for new towns. We agree that an ambitious pipeline of housing and regeneration opportunities is crucial. I am a representative of a new town, Redditch, which currently houses about 70,000 people, so I know how successful and how important those...
Rachel Maclean: ..., I hope, hear the remarks about that later in my speech. Unfortunately, I cannot do justice to all the questions that are being asked, but I will touch on the importance of a healthy and diverse housing market, including the SME builders that were rightly mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South. We have launched the levelling up home building fund, which provides...
Rachel Maclean: ...to conclude my remarks, so let me reiterate my huge thanks to my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden. He is absolutely right to articulate so powerfully the case for driving up housing supply. That is our ambition—to build the homes that this country needs—and that is what this Conservative Government, working with Members on all sides of the House, will achieve.
Rachel Maclean: We have announced £10 billion of investment in housing supply since the start of this Parliament, with our interventions due to ultimately unlock over 1 million new homes. We are also investing £11.5 billion in the latest Affordable Homes Programme to provide tens of thousands of new homes across the country. Annual housing supply is up 10% compared to the previous year with over 232,000...
Rachel Maclean: I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this important matter to the House’s attention. Where authorities fall behind, as in the case of that Lib Dem-run local authority, which he has highlighted effectively, we will not hesitate to take action. We are working to provide all local authorities with the support they need, including by increasing planning fees and ensuring that planning...
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: ...steps to make sure that we get the balance right between tourists visiting an area, bringing in vital income and supporting local businesses, and those local communities having the necessary housing for people and workers to live in and to buy. We are progressing this consultation as quickly as possible and will make further announcements in due course.
Rachel Maclean: I do not agree that there has been dither and delay. We have already capped ground rents for significant numbers of leaseholders. We are committed to creating a housing system that works for everyone. We are determined to better protect and empower leaseholders to challenge unreasonable costs, extend the benefits of freehold ownership to more homeowners, and introduce more legislation within...
