Rachel Maclean: ..., but my hon. Friend rightly pointed to not only the letter from the Prime Minister but repeated assurances from myself, which I will repeat today, and from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that this issue is top of the list of priorities for our Department. We take it very seriously, and we fully intend to bring forward legislation to implement the changes...
Rachel Maclean: ..., and it causes considerable frustration, annoyance and anger among local residents who have bought those properties and expect to have those facilities there. They have paid good money for the houses that they have moved into. I will certainly discuss that issue with my hon. Friend further; there are a number of legal frameworks that we may be able to use to assist with that. I will...
Rachel Maclean: ...and I thank every Member for making powerful contributions. I start by reaffirming the unshakeable commitment of the Government to driving up both the quality and quantity of this nation’s social housing stock. It is a core tenet of our levelling-up agenda, and that has been reflected in recent years, starting with our affordable homes programme. The Government have been clear that they...
Rachel Maclean: The hon. Gentleman must be telepathic, because I was just about to come to that point. We are more broadly focused on accelerating housing delivery to make home buying a reality for a new generation, so we must build homes in the places that people want to live and work. As the Prime Minister said, and I agree with him, we want decisions about homes to be driven locally, which is why we need...
Rachel Maclean: ...—the last Labour Government did not build enough affordable homes, social homes or council homes. If we look at Labour-run Wales, we see that they have an appalling record of building social housing. Two London MPs spoke in the debate to highlight problems in London. I would like to remind—
Rachel Maclean: When I have finished my remarks. I would like to remind the House that the Mayor of London is responsible for housing in London. He is a Labour Mayor of London and the problems there lie firmly at his door. Many Members have also spoken about councils. I would like to point out my own local council’s record. Conservative-run Redditch Borough Council is delivering council housing. That is...
Rachel Maclean: ...what we are doing. To support continued delivery, in March this year we announced that local authorities will have access to a new concessionary Public Works Loan Board interest rate for council house building from June this year. Local authorities have a real part to play in that endeavour. We are giving them the flexibility to make locally led decisions that deliver the best deal for...
Rachel Maclean: ...do not have long to wait. They will have all their questions answered in due course. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Ben Everitt) for his excellent speech on social housing. I reassure him that social housing will be part of the infrastructure levy, and it was a pleasure to meet his small builders and business experts. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for...
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: ...reside with them, or who might reasonably be expected to reside with them. In particular this means that accommodation must be suitable for any minors. Applicants may request a review of the housing authority's decision that the accommodation offered to themâ¯is suitable. We have committed to providing over £650 million to councils in England over the next two years through the...
Rachel Maclean: ...is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue. Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform...
Rachel Maclean: The private rented sector (PRS) has some of the worst housing of all tenures with over a fifth of the 4.6 million households that rent privately enduring poor conditions and lacking security and control over the homes they pay to live in. Many renters are forced to live in sub-standard conditions, impacting their physical and mental health. The Levelling Up White Paper set out our ambition to...
Rachel Maclean: The Government wishes to extend the benefits of freehold ownership to more homeowners. That is why we have committed to end the sale of new leasehold houses, and to reinvigorate commonhold so it can finally be a genuine alternative to leasehold. We will make it easier for leaseholders to purchase the freehold of their building, and take control of their building, by enhancing enfranchisement...
Rachel Maclean: The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is not a centrally administered fund that local authorities can draw on. It is a ring fenced account within the authority's general fund, where it accounts for and records income and expenditure relating to its council housing stock. Any local housing authority with more than 200 homes is required to maintain an HRA. Overall delivery of new affordable homes...
Rachel Maclean: This Government is determined to increase levels of affordable housing, and as my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has outlined already, we are investing £11.5 billion through our Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver tens of thousands of much needed affordable homes right across the country. Additionally, we remain committed to delivering at least as much on-site affordable...
Rachel Maclean: I thank my hon. Friend for raising the concerns of his constituents, which are shared by many communities. We know how important it is that infrastructure is delivered alongside housing growth. That is why, through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, we will require local authorities to produce an infrastructure strategy as part of the infrastructure levy. I would be delighted to meet my...
Rachel Maclean: ...give “substantial weight” to using suitable brownfield land, and through our brownfield funds we are investing significantly in supporting redevelopment and release of brownfield sites for housing. We have also committed to launching a review to identify further measures that would prioritise the use of brownfield land.
Rachel Maclean: ...introducing a number of measures, as she set out, to support that brownfield-first approach, including requiring every local authority to publish a register of local brownfield land suitable for housing in their area.
Rachel Maclean: ...to regenerate those towns, cities and villages by introducing a new infrastructure levy, which will capture a higher land value uplift to enable more infrastructure to be delivered alongside housing.
