Speeches by Cooper.

“I understand your point about not going and spot-checking a home to make sure that it really is decent—that if it has been reported as decent, you do not check to see if it is not decent—but does your data insight team correlate between the data that you get on, for example, a repairs and maintenance backlog and a repo…”

“The English Housing Survey estimated that 9% of social homes provided by housing associations failed to meet the decent homes standard. That is substantially different from the data that you have estimated, which is more like 1%. Can you explain to us where you think that difference has come about?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend and her councillors on securing that improvement. I agree with her entirely, and I am sure the Minister has heard what she has said. Passengers in Northwich who cannot use stairs cannot get to the Chester-bound platform. There is no lift and no ramp; there is just a steep footbridge with 4…”

“From a debate about the personal property rights of crypto tokens, we move seamlessly into a debate I am proud to have secured on railway station accessibility, specifically at Northwich in my constituency. My thanks go to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity to talk about it. This is…”

“I absolutely agree. If we are going to give people dignity, we have to make sure that we are catering for everybody’s needs. When the previous Government declined to act in Northwich, a funding application was submitted to the Department for Transport under the Access for All programme. The previous Conservative Govern…”

“My hon. Friend mentioned Storm Christoph. Both Northwich and Winsford in my constituency flooded twice in an 18-month period, most recently during that storm. Our section 19 investigation found that although Northwich’s flood walls held, the ancient Victorian combined sewerage system was not up to scratch. Does she agr…”

“I am MP for Mid Cheshire.”

“We have heard about the issues that can happen when someone dies in a shared ownership property; that arrears continue to build up and that service charges continue to be levied. When you were developing the Code, did you consider including anything around that, for example, buyback if the beneficiaries cannot sell the…”

“I am going to be asking you about valuation staircasing and re-sale. The BBC reported in June that many shared owners feel trapped in their properties and unable to sell. I would like to come to you first, Sue. Why do you think that is and what do you think we can do about it?”

“Will, I would like to come to you about the issue of why RICS valuations are needed for any shared ownership transaction above a 1% staircase. It has been criticised because there is no negotiation element. You have to take the valuation and that is the price you pay for your staircasing, whereas if a property was put …”

“Given the 1% applies to the original purchase price rather than the last valuation, why is it appropriate to use the original purchase price—which might have been some time ago—for a 1% staircase but it is not appropriate to use later on?”

“Ann, do you think there is scope to broaden out the use of the house price index, for example, as an alternative valuation method? What are your thoughts?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) on securing this debate. We have heard some harrowing stories from right hon. and hon. Members from across the Chamber. I am pleased that the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lew…”

“Minister Pennycook recently committed in a Backbench Business debate to meet with FirstPort’s managing director. What would be your message to FirstPort about how it operates estate charges?”

“As far as you are concerned, you are fully committed to the devolution priority programme and to filling in the gaps in the north-west, in Cumbria, and in Cheshire and Warrington, and creating those mayoral combined authorities.”

“Specifically on the assets that are part of an estate, I am talking about the roads, sewers and play areas that, for somebody who lives on an estate that was maybe built 30 years ago, would have been adopted by the water authority or the council, or possibly the parish council, for maintaining the play area. Somebody o…”

“We have talked a lot about the 1.5 million homes to be built over this Parliament. Many of those being delivered today continue to be on so-called fleecehold estates, where residents pay a service charge for play areas and open spaces. Many continue to be built with private roads and private sewerage systems. Despite p…”

“Are you confident that the timeline allows for implementation during this Parliament, despite any potential legal cases that may occur?”

“I am going to declare at the start that the estate that I live on is a mixture of freehold and leasehold, although I, in fact, live in a freehold property. There are estate charges and service charges accordingly on that scheme. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 was passed in the wash-up under the last Governm…”

“Secretary of State, what you are describing there is all well and good for large-scale developments such as data centres or the OxCam corridor. I completely understand that, but what my colleague was referring to is the genuine frustration that people feel in communities that infrastructure is always a long way down th…”