argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Grenfell Tower Fire: Advice to Landlords — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: I am concerned that a survey of social landlords carried out by HouseMark has found that they had little confidence that they would be able to take enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004 to ensure that leaseholders complied with fire safety regulations, including through fitting fire doors, which is obviously essential, given what the Secretary of State has just said about keeping all tenants safe. Will he respond to the request from Nottingham City Council, which is seeking additional powers to enable this to happen?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been very clear to local authorities and housing associations in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy that they should carry out checks immediately. They should then consult with their local fire and rescue service, and whatever is recommended should absolutely be put in place. Where local authorities cannot afford that, we are happy to talk to them and to provide the support that they need.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The level of housebuilding has not been matched by demand. Radical reform is needed to build new homes now and in the future. Our housing White Paper set out how we intend to do that and turn around a legacy of decades of not building enough homes.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Scott Leslie Mann (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State will be aware that Cornwall recently received £5 million for community-led self-build housing. Does he support neighbourhood plans that look to provide that facility instead of registered social landlord properties, so that Government Members can give people not only the ladder, but the spade, the spirit level and the trowel, too?
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): As you say, Mr Speaker, supply has not met demand, and one way of getting that right is to have more self-build homes. I understand that some 255 people have registered in Cornwall Council’s area, and the Homes and Communities Agency is working with igloo Regeneration to deliver 54 plots at Heartlands for people in Cornwall. Our recent announcement of the home building fund—£3 billion in total—can also help.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): Telford is a new town that is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and it is playing its part in tackling the national housing shortage, so I am delighted that the housing infrastructure fund has been announced to encourage new build. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the fund will also accept bids for the regeneration and renewal of new town infrastructure?
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): As we have shown in the housing infrastructure fund’s prospectus, we have deliberately given infrastructure a broad definition, so we would welcome bids that would support regeneration. She is absolutely right to highlight that infrastructure is often the missing bit where we need new homes, which is exactly why we launched the fund.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the issue of ensuring that if things go wrong, as they sometimes do, when people buy new homes, owners do get proper redress. Mechanisms are in place, both in the private sector and through statutory means, but the issue needs to be looked at carefully.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I can happily tell the hon. Lady that the number of council houses built in the last six years is more than double what was built in the previous 13 years. Council houses offer an important choice to people in terms of affordability. We have seen almost 900,000 homes built since 2010, of which more than 300,000 are affordable homes.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to see all councils playing an active role in getting more homes built in their area. It is to be welcomed when councils work with private partners to deliver more homes themselves. To make sure those homes are in the right place, local people should be involved in formulating the local plan and then the neighbourhood plans.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Peter James Bottomley (Conservative, Centre-right): Balancing supply and demand requires successful developers and confident buyers. Will my right hon. Friend bring in the owners of the freeholds, who are making a misery of the lives of people in leasehold houses, and the developers who are trying to put things right? People such as Adriatic, frankly, look like modern-day robbers.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my hon. Friend for his work in this area to show up the leasehold abuses that take place, especially when it comes to buying new houses. He will know that we said in the White Paper that we will be bringing forward proposals, and I can confirm to him that we will be doing so very shortly.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Numbers matter, but so does the quality of new homes. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have seen some of the terrible stories in the national press, and I have seen some awful examples recently in my constituency. Why is it that someone can buy goods in a shop and have powers of redress, but if someone spends a fortune on a new home, they can sometimes struggle for months, if not years, to get what they paid for?
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman wants to know the truth, and the truth is that, when he was Housing Minister at the end of the last Labour Government, housing starts fell to their lowest level in almost 100 years —that is the truth. Since then, new-build housing starts are at a nine-year high. If he supports us on implementing the housing White Paper, we can work together.
Core Cities: Economic Regeneration — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): We should be proud of the funding for our Core Cities, particularly through the devolution deals, but regeneration in the north also relies on the funding of our non-Core Cities. An important part of that for communities such as Hull has been coastal communities funding. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the Government remain committed to coastal communities funding?
Core Cities: Economic Regeneration — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Jacob Gilchrist Berry (Conservative, Centre-right): I can confirm to my hon. Friend that we will of course deliver on our general election manifesto pledge to extend coastal communities funding. I also wish to take the opportunity to thank him for the work he did when he was doing this job; I am all too aware that I am walking in the shoes of a giant.
Core Cities: Economic Regeneration — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Public Lands
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister’s announcement about the coastal communities fund a moment ago. He will be aware that a major regeneration scheme is being developed by North East Lincolnshire Council, about which I wrote to the Secretary of State a couple of weeks ago. Will the Minister agree to meet me and other representatives from the area so that we can move this forward very quickly?
City Deals — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): Ashover in my constituency is being blighted by planning applications that we believe are inappropriate, despite our trying to put a neighbourhood plan in place, as the council had not put in place a local plan in time. Will the Minister be willing to meet me to talk about the challenge that Ashover is experiencing, as he will perhaps be able to offer some advice about a village caught between a rock and a hard place?
City Deals — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): It was not altogether to do with city deals, but nevertheless the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) has plunged his feet into the water. We appreciate that and wish him well in further contributions in the House.
Homelessness — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Nobody should ever have to sleep rough. My Department co-funded Crisis’s recent Housing First report, which shows how that approach can work to end rough sleeping for those with the most complex needs. We are now considering how Housing First can help our manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2027.
Homelessness — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that question and welcome him to the House. He is right that the Government are setting up a homelessness reduction taskforce in addition to the measures in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the homelessness prevention trailblazers being run by the Government as a forerunner to the Act’s coming into effect. The culture is now starting to change and councils are starting to help people far earlier as a result of the trailblazers in areas where they are taking place.
Homelessness — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Mixed Topics
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman mentions a critical area and it is vital that we support veterans who are rough sleeping. I run a cross-party working group attended by a number of Ministers, including one from the Ministry of Defence, and this is certainly a subject that we are eagerly trying to address.
Grenfell Tower Fire — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I can confirm that the first new permanent homes will be available very shortly, and more are being secured, either in Kensington and Chelsea or very close by. In the meantime, good-quality, fully furnished temporary accommodation in the local area has been offered to every family.
Grenfell Tower Fire — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): First of all, I can tell the hon. Lady that over 220 temporary homes have been identified and inspected—that is all good-quality, available accommodation. She referred to unsuitable offers; she should certainly bring those details to me, and we will look at them and take this very seriously. There are 169 families who have received offers; 30 offers of temporary accommodation have been accepted, and nine families have already moved in. As she knows full well from talking to her constituents, many families do not feel ready to move into temporary accommodation, and we will absolutely respect their wishes.
Grenfell Tower Fire — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): That may well be the case further down the line, but right now, the absolute priority is to do whatever is necessary to help the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy to get into those homes. All those costs will be met by Government wherever necessary.
Grenfell Tower Fire — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s re-election as Chair of the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government. I agree that we want more social homes—and not just in Kensington and Chelsea; we want to make sure that that choice is offered across the country. With regard to the 68 homes in the Kensington Row development, to which I think he was referring, my understanding was that they were originally planned to be affordable homes, not social homes, so they will be additional. Despite that, given what has happened and the need for social homes in Kensington and Chelsea, we should do more.
Supported Housing: Funding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Developing a sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority. We welcome the input into our recent consultation. We are now carefully taking stock of the joint report by the Communities and Local Government Committee and the Select Committee on Work and Pensions on supported housing, and we will set out further details of our plans in the autumn.
Supported Housing: Funding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady for her question. Nobody is under any illusions about how important supported housing and its provision are to all our constituents. That is why we have confirmed that we will exempt supported housing from the local housing allowance cap until 2019, by which time we will come forward with a suitable solution. As I say, we are looking to bring forward our plans in the autumn, and we are taking our time to make sure that those plans work and are right, so that we bring forward that supply of supported housing. In England, we are putting £400 million in capital funding behind that, to bring forward new units.
Local Authorities: Financial Support — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: What discussions he has had with local authority leaders on financial support for local authorities since the Government announced their policy on the 100% business rates retention.
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): If Barnet got the same Government support as Camden, it would probably be a realistic option for Barnet to reduce council tax to zero. Will the Minister look at the allocation of funding between outer and inner London to give boroughs such as Barnet a fairer share of resources?
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish (Conservative, Centre-right): Our Conservative manifesto committed to supporting new high-quality housing "like mansion blocks, mews houses and terraced streets." How are the Government working to fulfil this promise and to build housing that is attractive, dense and popular with the public?
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right: it is about not just the quantity of housing, but the quality too. That is why, for example, getting local people engaged in neighbourhood plans is so important, and it is why we will be bringing forward the changes that we set out in the housing White Paper.
Housebuilding — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course it is very important—we had a similar question earlier—to make sure that people buying new properties get exactly what they believed they were purchasing and, where that is not the case, that they receive help in putting things right. There are already procedures in place, and we are looking to see what more can be done.
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of borough-wide licensing schemes for private rented sector landlords on standards and safety in that sector.
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): Licensing can be an effective tool where it is targeted at delivering improved standards and safety in the private rented sector for areas suffering from serious problems. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, in April 2015 further conditions for applying selective licensing were introduced.
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of borough-wide licensing schemes for private rented sector landlords on standards and safety in that sector.
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): I can certainly reassure the right hon. Gentleman that the scheme will be considered on its merits and in accordance with whether it meets the strategy requirements in part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, which was, of course, introduced under a Labour Government.
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of borough-wide licensing schemes for private rented sector landlords on standards and safety in that sector.
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We want all landlords, whether they provide student accommodation or otherwise, to keep their tenants safe. As the hon. Lady will know, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking at issues related to electrical safety.
New Homes for Social Rent — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place. Since 2010 we have delivered nearly 330,000 affordable homes, including over 120,000 homes for social rent. Our priorities are to boost housing supply and to build more affordable homes to rent and to buy.
New Homes for Social Rent — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): We set out in our manifesto—again, I talked about this very recently at the Local Government Association conference—our ambition to help local authorities that have ambitions to build more council homes, so if that is what Bristol wants, then the Mayor of Bristol should approach me.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The ongoing response to the Grenfell tragedy has understandably dominated my Department’s work for the past few weeks, and it will remain a priority in the months and years ahead, but we have not let up on our wider work. We have launched our £2.3 billion housing infrastructure fund, we have introduced the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill, and later this week we will set out further details on our plan to get more homes built in the right places.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I see that the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) has beetled away from his seat and looks as though he is about to exit the Chamber. I would have called him at topical questions if he were standing, but I will not if he is not. Anyway, he has got the public information announcement, for which I am sure he is duly grateful.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): As you know, Mr Speaker, in Lincolnshire we have some wonderful coastal resorts. They trip off the tongue as a litany of sun and fun: Cleethorpes, Mablethorpe, Skegness. Indeed, Mr Speaker, when you go on your holidays on Thursday, do not go to Italy and France—come to bracing Skegness. Can my right hon. Friend promise to use the coastal communities fund to promote all-round tourism and, after Brexit, match the £143 million we receive from the European regional development fund for these resorts?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Public Lands
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend rightly highlights the importance of all our coastal communities, including, of course, those in Lincolnshire, many of which I had the pleasure of visiting during the recent general election campaign. I can assure him that we continue to use the coastal communities fund, and whatever other resources we have available, to help promote those areas.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-17
Topic: Housing
Questions: Plymouth is leading the way on innovation in social care. The work between the local authority and care provider has broken new ground. What more can the Government do to support local authorities that are working so hard to meet social care needs in places such as Plymouth?; More than 50% of fires in people’s homes have an electrical source of ignition, and the Department set up a working group last August to look at electrical safety in the private rented sector. Does the Secretary of State agree with me and others, including London Fire Brigade, Electrical Safety First and Shelter, that it is time for a more preventive approach to electrical fires, and that mandatory five-year electrical safety tests should be introduced as a matter of urgency in the private rented sector?; The Guinness Partnership is reviewing fire safety measures in its three high-rise buildings in Havant. If it concludes that new sprinklers are required, will the Minister join me in calling on private landlords to take responsibility and meet the cost of installing those sprinklers?
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): Obviously, the Guinness Partnership will need to determine, with the local fire service, what is needed to keep those properties safe. As the Secretary of State has made absolutely clear, where work is necessary to ensure the fire safety of social housing, a lack of resources should not prevent it from going ahead.