Written questions by Blake.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential reasons for housing associations selling homes previously let out for social rent.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) publishes annual statistics relating to the social housing stock owned and managed by Private Registered Providers in England, including information on stock lost from the sector. Sales for non-social use in 2023/24 were recorded as 4,341 homes. Further information can be found on gov.uk here.RSH’s analysis suggests that providers are undertaking fixed asset sales for a variety of reasons. These include stock rationalisation and disposal of uneconomic properties, as well as generating receipts to support reinvestment in new and existing stock.

Communities and Local Government, what support she is providing to housing associations, in the context of costs associated with the Building Safety Act 2022.

Social landlords, including Housing Associations, can apply to the Building Safety Fund and the Cladding Safety Scheme where the cost of remediating a building would threaten the financial viability of the landlord or to cover costs which - without the protections of the Building Safety Act - could have been passed on to leaseholders and shared owners.  As of November 2024, social landlords had been allocated £568 million by government remediation schemes. From April 2025, we will increase funding for social landlords applying for government remediation funding so that remedial works can start sooner. We are working with the sector to develop a long-term social housing remediation strategy.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) lower the threshold for right to manage applications and (b) increase the maximum proportion of commercial property permissible for right to manage applications to occur.

The government has commenced the Right to Manage measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. They came into effect on 3 March 2025.These changes implement the Law Commission recommendation to increase the non-residential floorspace limit from 25 to 50 per cent for Right to Manage claims. This means that more leaseholders in mixed-use buildings will qualify for the right to manage, gaining control over the management of their building. Further changes mean that leaseholders making right to manage claims will no longer have to pay their freeholder’s process costs for that claim.Over the course of this Parliament, the government will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to the Right to Manage. We do not plan to lower the participation requirement or further increase the non-residential limit for the Right to Manage at this time but will continue to evaluate how the Right to Manage operates following the recent changes.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to accept the recommendations on hidden event fees in retirement properties in the report by the Law Commission entitled Event Fees in Retirement Properties, published on 31 March 2017.

The government is committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year.We are giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce, including its recommendation that government should implement the Law Commission’s 2017 recommendations to regulate event fees.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of when the Building Safety Regulator will be determining 50% of its judgments within its statutory 12-week target.

We are aware of the delays for applicants in Gateway two. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator in its infancy and operational functions are still bedding in. BSR report to MHCLG that Gateway processing times continue to improve and the BSR has recruited additional personnel who are starting to process applications.We also understand that it currently takes longer than expected to stand up specialist multidisciplinary teams to assess Gateway applications and this is a major contributing factor to delays. To support the BSR with this process the government has provided funding to support additional Fire and Rescue (FRS) staff and funding for new local authority building control inspectors. The recruitment and training of these additional staff is well underway. MHCLG continue to review how multidisciplinary teams are resourced through our internal channels.However, it is also clear that the sector must take responsibility for the projects they deliver. We understand the BSR have rejected a significant number of Gateway Two applications for failing to meet the building safety regulatory standards. Sub-standard rejected applications contribute to the time taken to process compliant applications and the BSR continue to support industry to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. Guidance is available to support applicants in understanding their duties.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of the multi-disciplinary team system within the Building Safety Regulator.

We are aware of the delays for applicants in Gateway two. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator in its infancy and operational functions are still bedding in. BSR report to MHCLG that Gateway processing times continue to improve and the BSR has recruited additional personnel who are starting to process applications.We also understand that it currently takes longer than expected to stand up specialist multidisciplinary teams to assess Gateway applications and this is a major contributing factor to delays. To support the BSR with this process the government has provided funding to support additional Fire and Rescue (FRS) staff and funding for new local authority building control inspectors. The recruitment and training of these additional staff is well underway. MHCLG continue to review how multidisciplinary teams are resourced through our internal channels.However, it is also clear that the sector must take responsibility for the projects they deliver. We understand the BSR have rejected a significant number of Gateway Two applications for failing to meet the building safety regulatory standards. Sub-standard rejected applications contribute to the time taken to process compliant applications and the BSR continue to support industry to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. Guidance is available to support applicants in understanding their duties.

Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on setting out a timeline for the commencement of the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824.

We are carefully considering the Vagrancy Act and other relevant legislation in developing our new cross-government strategy.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15319 on Holiday Accommodation: Registration, what additional powers her Department plans to give to local authorities to respond to pressures of short-term lets.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer to Question UIN 13348 on 18 November 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to remove the requirement for a local connection for (a) homeless veterans, (b) survivors of domestic abuse and (c) care leavers.

On the 24 September the Prime Minister announced an ambition to improve access to social housing for veterans, survivors of domestic abuse and young care leavers. Statutory guidance recommends that local authorities exempt victims of domestic abuse and care leavers from local connection and residency tests, and we know that most local authorities already do this. We are clear that a victim of domestic abuse, a care leaver or a veteran should not be disqualified from social housing on the grounds of having no local connection. The Department laid regulations on 27 November which will require local authorities to exempt all veterans from local connection requirements for social housing allocations. We will bring forward similar regulations covering survivors of domestic abuse and care leavers when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of rules on local connection for housing allocations.

On the 24 September the Prime Minister announced an ambition to improve access to social housing for veterans, survivors of domestic abuse and young care leavers. Statutory guidance recommends that local authorities exempt victims of domestic abuse and care leavers from local connection and residency tests, and we know that most local authorities already do this. We are clear that a victim of domestic abuse, a care leaver or a veteran should not be disqualified from social housing on the grounds of having no local connection. The Department laid regulations on 27 November which will require local authorities to exempt all veterans from local connection requirements for social housing allocations. We will bring forward similar regulations covering survivors of domestic abuse and care leavers when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to consult on the draft of the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.

I refer my hon Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on establishing a Jewish History Month.

This Government is committed to celebrating the positive contributions to society made by this country’s faith and belief groups, including our Jewish communities. We are proud of the contribution that Jewish people have made and continue to make to the UK in so many areas of life.We continue to support Britain’s Jewish communities on areas such as Holocaust education, our commitment to the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, and our resolve to tackle antisemitism in all its forms.Initiatives to mark specific cultural events or history months are best led from within the community, and the Government is fully supportive of these efforts.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of short-term letting websites on recent trends in private rental prices in Cities of London and Westminster constituency.

Whilst short-term lets can benefit local economies, the government appreciate that excessive concentrations in some areas of the country can impact the availability and affordability of homes both to rent and buy. We have committed to introducing a registration scheme for short-term lets and removing the furnished holiday let rules to ensure all income from property will be treated the same for tax purposes. We also recognise that more needs to be done and are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 on recent trends in the cost of service charges for leaseholders.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation need to bring the various provisions of the Act into force.Leaseholders in shared ownership properties whose leases qualify for protections set out in the Building Safety Act are protected from the costs of internal building safety defects, with a cost cap proportionate to their equity stake in the property.All leaseholders can benefit from the Government’s Cladding Safety Scheme or Developer Scheme for the removal of unsafe cladding. The Government understands the difficulties some leaseholders are still experiencing and has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation.