Tag: housing

Social Housing (Regulations) Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks in support of amendments

On 18th October 2022, the House of Lords debated the Social Housing (Regulations) Bill in its report stage. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in the debate, in support of amendments tabled by Baroness Pinnock and by Baroness Hayman of Ullock:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, it is good to see this important Bill continuing its progression through this House. I begin by declaring my specific interests as the Church of England’s lead bishop for housing and as a beneficiary of the Church Commissioners.

I add my support to Amendment 1 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. As the energy crisis unfolds, it is surely wise to address the issue of energy efficiency in the social housing sector in a systematic way, by including it as a fundamental objective. Many who live in social homes are among those with the lowest incomes, so they are already struggling to meet their energy bills right now. In addition to immediate relief and support, we also need to address energy efficiency to ensure true affordability in the long term.

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Bishop of Chelmsford asks about accommodation for refugees in the UK

The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answers on 10th October 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the longer-term sustainability of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

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Bishop of Chelmsford asks about private rented housing

The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answers on 5th September 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish a response to their consultation Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes, which closed on 8 January 2021.

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Bishop of Ely supports Healthy Homes Bill

On 15th July 2022, the house debated the Healthy Homes Bill at its second reading. The Bishop of Ely spoke in the debate on this Private Member’s Bill. His speech is below, along with contributions from other peers:

The Lord Bishop of Ely: My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak in the Second Reading of this very important Bill. The lead Bishop on housing, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford, is sadly unable to be with us. However, she has asked me also to pass on her gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, for his work in bringing the Healthy Homes Bill forward.

In his book Reimagining Britain, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote that we need to reimagine housing. He said:

“Reimagined core values and practices in any housing development will be linked to health in many forms. Good communities build financial, physical, mental, spiritual and relational health.”

As the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, said, this is about linking not just housing and health but education. In my time as Bishop of Ely, when we have built church schools on crowded new housing estates I have always insisted on having space in front of the schools so that, rather than doubling the cramp that people feel, we have pram plazas rather than pram wars.

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Bishop of St Albans asks questions about support for those facing cost of fire safety remedial work

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer to four questions on 14th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: asked Her Majesty’s Government:

what plans they have to provide low-interest long term loans to non-qualifying buy-to-lent landlords with more than two leasehold properties who are unable to afford fire safety remedial costs.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with two or more leasehold properties who will go bankrupt due to being unable to afford fire safety remedial work.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

what assistance they plan to provide to non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

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Bishop of Chelmsford welcomes Social Housing (Regulation) Bill and urges Government to go further

On 27th June 2022 the Bishop of Chelmsford spoke during the Second Reading debate of the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I also begin by congratulating the noble Viscount, Lord Camrose, on his excellent maiden speech. Clearly, he has a whole set of skills and experiences that will ensure that his contributions in this House will be highly valuable, as was apparent in his incisive and to the point speech, much of which I agree with and endorse.

Before I go any further, I declare my specific interest as the Church of England’s lead bishop for housing. Noble Lords will know that the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community has been actively working to envision how the Church, government and the nation might tackle the current housing crisis. Last year, the commission released its Coming Home report, which sets out in detail a reimagining of housing policy and practice centred on five core values, which are that housing should be “sustainable, safe, stable, sociable and satisfying.”

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Bishop of St Albans asks about housing

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 24th May 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to subject conversions and repairs on existing buildings to zero-rated VAT in-line with the VAT regime for new builds.

Baroness Penn (Con): The Government currently maintains a zero-rate of VAT on the construction of new build residential properties. This is to incentivise their construction and provide a lower burden of tax for purchasers of new homes.

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Queen’s Speech: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks about housing

On 11th May 2022, the House of Lords debated the Queen’s Speech. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I am delighted to follow my right reverend friend the Bishop of Guildford and I congratulate him on his excellent maiden speech. I warmly welcome him to the House and to these Benches, and I have no doubt that he will have a significant contribution to make, drawing not only on his long ordained ministry in a diverse range of social settings, as we have already heard a little about, but from his wider life experiences. It may well be that he has been a loss to the world of law and music but definitely a gain to the world of the Church. I very much look forward to working with him here in the future.

Last year I was appointed to be the Church of England’s lead bishop on housing, so I was especially pleased to see the references in Her Majesty’s gracious Speech to the needs of our social housing sector. I welcome the opportunities that the social housing regulation Bill will provide in this Session to make some valuable progress.

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Church Commissioner Questions: parishes, freedom of religion, housing, Channel crossings, marriage, new clergy, arts and culture

On 28th April 2022 MPs asked Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, about parish ministry, freedom of religion & belief, affordable and sustainable housing, illegal migrant crossings in the Channel, families parenting and marriage, candidates entering Holy Orders, and supporting arts and culture. A transcript is below.

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Bishop of Durham asks about housing

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 27th April 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the rising cost of living, what plans they have, if any, to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance.

Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con): The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. The level of LHA rates is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State.

In 2020-21, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we invested almost £1 billion in the LHA which meant 1.5 million households received an average increase of £600 more than they would otherwise have received.

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