Written questions by Gardiner.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of (a) waking watch and (b) other indirect consequences of measures introduced in the Building Safety Act 2024 on costs to residential leaseholders in higher risk buildings.

Since it was first launched in 2021, the Waking Watch Replacement Fund has made £82.6 million in grant funding available to support the installation of common alarm systems to replace costly waking watch measures in residential buildings. The current iteration of the fund was reopened in May 2023, extending support to all residential buildings where a waking watch is currently in place in England, regardless of where the costs of the waking watch fall. We know that waking watch measures are still being used too often, and that in too many cases, costs continue to be passed onto leaseholders. Reducing the excessive use of Waking Watch is a priority for this government, and in the meantime, we have extended the Waking Watch Replacement Fund until March 2026 with long-term plans for the fund to be confirmed at the end of the next Spending Review in Summer 2025.Since Royal Assent, parts of the Building Safety Act measures have been amended under the Leasehold Freehold Reform Act to reduce costs on residential leaseholders. These ensure that costs of ‘interim measures’ (such as waking watches and fitting simultaneous evacuation alarms) and expert reports can be recovered through remediation contribution orders. The costs of temporary accommodation if residents are decanted from their homes on building safety grounds, can also be recovered.Any contribution required from those holding a qualifying lease for non-cladding defects and interim measures is capped and spread over 10 years, This means that, for the majority of qualifying leaseholders, the maximum amount that can be charged for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). Qualifying leaseholders with a leasehold property worth more than £1 million and less than £2 million can be charged up to £50,000, while those with a leasehold property worth more than £2 million can be charged up to £100,000.The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new legal requirements for those responsible for managing building safety risks in higher-risk buildings when they are occupied. Under the Act, costs incurred in meeting these ongoing obligations can be passed to leaseholders via the service charge. The government considers these requirements as vital for ensuring structural and fire safety risks are properly managed, so that residents are and feel safe in their homes. We appreciate concerns about the costs of compliance with these requirements for leaseholders, and will continue to work with the Building Safety Regulator to monitor the situation.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of converting all existing residential leasehold tenure to commonhold on economic growth.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has set a target for the proportion of new homes to be built by 2030 that will be (a) leasehold and (b) commonhold.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase the uptake of leasehold with a share of freehold on new flatted developments.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18874 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, in what order respondents ranked the five policy options outlined in the consultation.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN 18874 on 17 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence section 32 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is to commence Section 48 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, whether she plans to remove marriage value from the enfranchisement premium calculation.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, if she will list the flaws in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended and that need to be rectified via primary legislation.The Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244) outlined two flaws regarding a loophole in the valuation scheme set out in the Act, and an omission on shared ownership lease extensions.Primary legislation will also be needed to address the following flaws:Allow third parties to leases, such as resident-led management companies, to recover contributions toward their process costs in some instances. Without this change, these companies may be at risk of insolvency, which would be an unintended outcome of the reforms requiring landlords to pay their process costs;Correct an unintended constraint on landlords’ existing redevelopment break rights that applies in certain limited circumstances; andCorrect technical cross references and make consequential amendments to ensure the smooth implementation of the Act.The government will address these matters as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish the results of the consultation entitled Modern Leasehold: Restricting Ground Rent for Existing Leases, which closed on 17 January 2024.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation. We will set out next steps in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, what discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on bringing forward legislation to amend the operation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the Leasehold and Freehold Act contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended. We intend to rectify these via primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to tackle delays in approvals for Gateway (a) 2 and (b) 3 submissions to the Building Safety Regulator.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is not involved in operational decisions, does not hold information on ongoing cases with the BSR, and cannot comment on an individual case. The client, or the person who submitted the application, should engage the BSR directly.The new Building Control process for higher-risk buildings was introduced as part of the Building Safety Act in 2022 and is an important part of the government’s continuing programme of work to ensure people are safe in their homes. We understand that it is taking longer to embed than envisaged and I know the BSR is working with the sector to resolve these issues at pace. My department is closely monitoring the situation to make sure the BSR and industry resolve outstanding delays quickly and make sure the expectations on the quality of submissions are better understood.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on when the Building Safety Regulator plans to respond to the applications for (a) Gateway 2 and (b) Gateway 3 approval for the two high rise blocks on the Wembley Park Quintain Development in Brent West constituency.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is not involved in operational decisions, does not hold information on ongoing cases with the BSR, and cannot comment on an individual case. The client, or the person who submitted the application, should engage the BSR directly.The new Building Control process for higher-risk buildings was introduced as part of the Building Safety Act in 2022 and is an important part of the government’s continuing programme of work to ensure people are safe in their homes. We understand that it is taking longer to embed than envisaged and I know the BSR is working with the sector to resolve these issues at pace. My department is closely monitoring the situation to make sure the BSR and industry resolve outstanding delays quickly and make sure the expectations on the quality of submissions are better understood.