Tag: housing

Bishop of Leeds asks about prison release policies

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question regarding releases from prisons on 21st March 2022, during a debate on safe and secure housing for released female prisoners:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, Friday releases from prison, in particular, are hugely problematic. This is particularly the case for geographically dispersed women’s prisons, because women cannot travel home in time to make a housing application with their local authority before the office closes. Are the Government aware of this specific problem, and can they offer any solutions as to what can be done to overcome it?

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Church Commissioners’ Question Time, 10 March 2022

On 10th March 2022 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, answered questions from MPs in the House of Commons, freedom of religion or belief overseas, family hubs, supporting Ukrainian refugees, affordable housing, the Queen’s platinum jubilee, and the Commissioners’ Scottish landholdings.

Global Summit: Freedom of Religion or Belief

Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne) (Con): What role the Church of England has in supporting the global summit to promote freedom of religion or belief, to be hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in July 2022. (905957)


The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): The Church is making every effort to support that important summit to promote freedom of religion or belief. A debate was held on the lack of global religious freedom at last month’s General Synod and I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), in her capacity as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, was able to brief Synod members on the huge cost of following Jesus in many parts of the world.

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Building Safety Bill: Bishop of St Albans speaks in favour of amendments to protect leaseholders and social housing

On 24th February 2022, the House of Lords debated the Building Safety Bill in the second day of committee. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in favour of a number of amendments relating to leaseholder protections and the proposed building safety levy:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 35. I was expecting others to speak to it first, but I shall address it briefly. I declare my interest as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. I, too, am an enthusiastic amateur and rise with great hesitation. I also apologise for arriving fractionally late and going in and out, but I have amendments about to run on the Judicial Review and Courts Bill, so I have been trying to balance things in two places.

Whenever a new tax is applied to an industry or business, it is extremely rare that a given organisation simply chooses to absorb that additional cost. In the overwhelming majority of instances, the tax will be passed on to the consumer as a price rise. Businesses rarely undermine their own bottom line when there is little competitive advantage for doing so and where the cost can be simply passed on to the consumer without hurting the demand for their product.

The market is such that there is a massive, chronic shortage of supply of homes in the UK. This undersupply means that, in reality, developers know that demand will not greatly suffer as a result of the building safety levy. They will not absorb the tax. I fear it will simply be priced on top of the cost of new properties. After all, this is the free market, and we cannot escape the fact that that is likely to be the consequence of the levy.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about potential for government purchase of housing to mitigate low numbers of property sales

The Bishop of St Albans asked whether the government would consider a scheme to purchase property from those seeking to move and having difficulty selling their houses due to safety concerns on 5th January 2022, during a debate on building safety:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, one of the very serious results of this problem is that many people are desperate to move, but simply cannot sell their properties any longer. This is causing huge difficulties for people trying to get jobs in other parts of the country. What assessment have the Government made of the Welsh Government’s proposal to start buying some of the properties that cannot be sold for the moment and turn them into affordable housing and social housing and so on, as a way of trying to break the deadlock?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about use of 3D Printing in construction of affordable housing

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th January 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made as to whether 3D printing represents the future of sustainable and affordable house building.

Lord Greenhalgh (Con, Department for Levelling Up): DLUHC shares the cross-Whitehall objective of increasing the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). MMC provides an important opportunity to improve the quality of new homes, deliver more energy efficient homes, reduce construction waste, improve productivity and address the shortage in construction skills.

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Bishop of London speaks on need to improve housing standards in the UK

The Bishop of London spoke in a debate following a motion to take note: “That this House takes note of the situation of leaseholders who are facing substantial bills for fire and building safety remediation work; and of the need for safe, green and affordable housing” tabled on 4th November 2021, arguing for greater protection to leaseholders:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Stunell, for securing this debate, and I thank the noble Lord who will speak after me. It has been four years, four months and 20 days since the Grenfell Tower fire. On the 14th day of every month, Grenfell survivors and their loved ones walk around the remains of Grenfell Tower to signal that they are yet to receive justice for what has happened.

Many in the other place allowed the Fire Safety Bill to pass on the promise that the issues relating to the remediation of unsafe buildings would be dealt with comprehensively and thoroughly in the Building Safety Bill. However, the Bill has just completed Committee in the other place and the Government have yet to set out how they intend to deal with the unaffordable costs faced by leaseholders for interim safety measures and the remediation of unsafe buildings.

The Government’s reannouncement of £5 billion for the removal of unsafe cladding only raised concerns for those affected. The Red Book notes that £3 billion will be spent over the spending review period up to the end of March 2025. Can the Minister tell the House when he expects all dangerous cladding will have been removed?

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Bishop of Bristol asks about progress of schemes to protect leaseholders affected by defective cladding

The Bishop of Bristol asked a question on the progress of a low interest pilot scheme for leaseholders in buildings with defective cladding during a debate on building safety on 28th October 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Bristol: Can the Minister update the House on the progress of the capped low-interest scheme for buildings with defective cladding under 18 metres? Can he clarify whether a pilot scheme will, as previously hoped, be functional by the end of the year?

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Community Wellbeing

On 18th October 2021, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church Commissioners are taking to provide affordable, sustainable and beautiful housing to support community wellbeing on the Church estate.

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Votes: Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill

On 20th July 2021, the House of Lords debated the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill in the first day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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Bishop of St Albans asks about rural housing

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th July 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to (1) review, and (2) update, what constitutes a designated ‘rural area’ within the terms of section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 with a view to including more smaller rural communities.

Lord Greenhalgh (Con): The areas set out under section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 are National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and areas designated as rural for the purposes of Right to Buy by the Secretary of State.

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