Contributions
1,048 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHousing: Unfair Leasehold AgreementsThe noble Lord is correct. These unfair practices in the leasehold market have absolutely no place in a modern housing market, and neither do excessive ground rents that exploit…03 Mar 2020HANSARDHousing: Unfair Leasehold AgreementsMy Lords, we welcome the CMA’s report on its investigation into unfair terms and mis-selling in the leasehold market, and I commend on his work my noble friend Lord Tyrie, who led…03 Mar 2020HANSARDHousing: Unfair Leasehold AgreementsAs I said in a previous answer, the Competition and Markets Authority report updating its investigation into the extent of mis-selling and onerous lease terms will address this…03 Mar 2020HANSARDHousing: Unfair Leasehold AgreementsI acknowledge my noble friend’s significant interest in and knowledge of this area from her position in Westminster Council. The assured tenancy trap relates to property sold as a…03 Mar 2020HANSARDHousing: Unfair Leasehold AgreementsI agree that the legislation has taken a long time in its gestation, but we have done a number of things since Javid’s report in the other place. For example, we have asked the…03 Mar 2020HANSARDFisheries Bill [HL]My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering for her amendment in relation to international co-operation and for her indicating that it is a probing…02 Mar 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesMy Lords, last year over 240,000 new homes were delivered, the highest number in over 30 years, taking the total delivered to over 1.5 million new homes since 2010. This is very…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesMy noble friend makes a very good point. I heard the earlier point about our past history in building houses but, with modern methods of construction, he is absolutely right to…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesWe have done much to increase affordability for individuals. The affordable rent was introduced to maximise taxpayers’ money, which has allowed us to build more homes for every…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesThe Government fully recognise the importance of increasing the number of small and medium-sized housebuilders in providing the housing in this country. He is absolutely right to…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesI am afraid that I cannot speak for my colleagues in the other place about what is intended in the Budget. What I can say is that there are a number of reviews of the planning…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesThe Government are taking many measures to tackle the skills crisis in this sector. For example, the Department for Education’s £24 million construction skills fund is supporting…27 Feb 2020HANSARDHousing: New HomesThat does not bode very well for me in my post, does it? My noble friend speaks with great authority on this issue, having himself been a rather longer-serving Housing Minister…27 Feb 2020HANSARDFisheries Bill [HL]That it be an instruction to the Committee of the Whole House to which the Fisheries Bill [HL] has been committed that they consider the bill in the following order: Clauses 1 to…26 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationI thank the noble Baroness for raising a cause that is also dear to my own heart. She is right about the terrible effects in Rhondda Cynon Taf. The glib answer, of course, is that…25 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationI am not sure that the noble Lord is correct in that. Flood Re was introduced specifically to help with insurance for houses particularly at risk. The Government have that whole…25 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationI agree with my noble friend, but it might be helpful to set out that “building on flood plains” is a catch-all expression. There are two different forms of flood plains; indeed,…25 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationOf course I pay tribute to the extraordinary response from the national response centre. It was stood up on February 14 and the scale of its response was truly extraordinary: we…25 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationI will try not to steal the thunder from my noble friend who is following on behind me. On the noble Lord’s specific question about why the support from the flood recovery…25 Feb 2020HANSARDFlooding CompensationMy Lords, the Government are firmly committed to supporting local areas impacted by recent severe weather. Following the floods in November and storms Ciara and Dennis, we rapidly…25 Feb 2020