DLUHC publishes estimates of first-time buyer numbers as part of the English Housing Survey. See Chapter 3 and Annex 3.2 in: English Housing Survey2022 to 2023: headline report - GOV.UK. The Government does not hold data that is specific to (a) the Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.

The Government has a range of schemes available to help improve access to home ownership, including First Homes, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and the Lifetime ISA. We have also doubled the threshold for Stamp Duty and expanded First Time Buyers Relief.

As set out in my answer to Question UIN 24168 on 3 May 2024, the English Housing Survey sets out levels of damp and mould in all tenures of residential accommodation. Details are available online.

For more information on the health impacts of damp and mould in homes, please see our consolidated guidance developed with the Department of Health and Social Care. It can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers.

Following the tragic death of the two-year-old Awaab Ishak, due to the appalling housing conditions that Awaab Ishak and his family had to live in, the Secretary of State summoned the leadership of their landlord, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, to explain why such catastrophic failures had been allowed to happen. The Government has also legislated for ‘Awaab’s law’, introduced via the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.

In his written statement of 9 January 2024 (HCWS174) the Secretary of State launched a consultation on how ‘Awaab’s law’ will operate in practice, including the specific requirements on social landlords. The consultation closed on 5 March 2024 and we are analysing the responses. Once this has been completed, we will bring forward secondary legislation as soon as possible.

The department, last year, provided £15 million of funding to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to tackle the worst cases of damp and mould. They have now completed improvements to around 4,000 homes.

The Government has made multiple statements and policy announcements on this issue. The Building Safety Act 2022 can be found here: Building Safety Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

We continue to update the House on our progress including in Written Ministerial Statements in November 2023 and April 2024.

The Government has a range of schemes available to help improve access to home ownership, including First Homes, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and the Lifetime ISA. We have also doubled the threshold for Stamp Duty and expanded First Time Buyers Relief.

The department does not routinely collect data on bankruptcy or the reasons for them; we would welcome any specific concerns being raised directly should those with an interest in this policy area wish to do so.

It is important to note that there are multiple ways leaseholders can seek support in remediation. The Leasehold Advisory Service, funded by the department, provides free advice to leaseholders on legal matters.

Part 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022 allows any leaseholders, including those who are leaseholders in a building subject to collective enfranchisement, to apply to the First Tier Tribunal to seek a Remediation Contribution Order from a previous owner, developer or persons associated with either of these, for funds to remediate relevant defects (including non-cladding defects) in their buildings.

Leaseholders in buildings subject to collective enfranchisement can also seek to recover costs of non-cladding defects through the retrospectively extended limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act. We have also extended the reach of civil liability to associated companies of developers and a new cause of action which allows manufacturers of construction products to be pursued.

Another possible course of action would be to consider recourse to litigation under the Defective Premises Act where costs may be recovered from those responsible for historical defects on the building if construction was completed on or after 28 June 1992 and a dwelling in the building is unfit for habitation.

The Government published a call for evidence on leaseholder-owned buildings, which closed on 14 November 2022. We are carefully considering the evidence, which will help inform Government policy on how best to protect the leaseholders in leaseholder-owned buildings from the impact of building safety defects. This evidence has informed the policy thinking which resulted in the inclusion of building safety measures to further strengthen Remediation Contribution Orders in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.

The department does not hold data on the average value of the portfolios of leaseholders who own more than three properties. The department issued a call for evidence on 21 March 2024 to assess the impact of the leaseholder protections where a leasehold property is owned by two or more individuals. The Call for Evidence closed on 5 April 2024.

Information on the number of shared owners who have staircased to full ownership is publicly available from our live tables on social housing sales.

The department collects information on the number of households living in Shared Ownership homes via the English Housing Survey.

It is not possible to distinguish between Rent to Buy – Shared Ownership and other Shared Ownership products in these datasets.

Information on the number of shared owners who have staircased to full ownership is publicly available from our live tables on social housing sales.

The department collects information on the number of households living in Shared Ownership homes via the English Housing Survey.

It is not possible to distinguish between Rent to Buy – Shared Ownership and other Shared Ownership products in these datasets.

We do have evidence that provides a demographic picture of home ownership in England via the English Housing Survey. All data is published centrally on gov.uk at the following link.

The Government is committed to extending ownership to a new generation.

Home Ownership could have been extended across the whole country in the Autumn of last year if the Honourable lady's colleagues in the other place had not blocked the Government's nutrient neutrality proposals.

The department’s main source of information on home ownership is the English Housing Survey. The full report with data tables is published here.

We have introduced legal obligations on both private and social landlords to provide carbon monoxide detectors in their properties and we have amended the statutory guidance (Approved Document J) supporting Part J of the Building Regulations to require that carbon monoxide alarms are fitted alongside the installation of fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type (excluding gas cookers) in all tenures.

We continue to advise homeowners to install carbon monoxide alarms and support the Health and Safety Executive when they recommend these alarms as one useful precaution to give advance warning of carbon monoxide in a property. We also commend the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group and the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society.

The latest report from the Cross-government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness can be found at Cross government group on gas safety and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness (hse.gov.uk).

We have introduced legal obligations on both private and social landlords to provide carbon monoxide detectors in their properties and we have amended the statutory guidance (Approved Document J) supporting Part J of the Building Regulations to require that carbon monoxide alarms are fitted alongside the installation of fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type (excluding gas cookers) in all tenures.

We continue to advise homeowners to install carbon monoxide alarms and support the Health and Safety Executive when they recommend these alarms as one useful precaution to give advance warning of carbon monoxide in a property. We also commend the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group and the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society.

The latest report from the Cross-government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness can be found at Cross government group on gas safety and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness (hse.gov.uk).

The Government has no current plans to undertake a review of the Party Wall Act. The Department has not conducted post legislative review of the Party Wall Act 1996.

The Party Wall Act provides statutory rights for the owner to carry out work to their home as well as providing a dispute resolution procedure for Party Wall disputes. A building owner proposing to start work covered by the Act may give adjoining owners notice of their intentions in the way set down in the Act. Adjoining owners can agree or disagree with what is proposed. Where they disagree, the Act provides a mechanism for resolving disputes.

The Act establishes that a building owner must not cause unnecessary inconvenience to adjoining owners. This is taken to mean inconvenience over and above that which will inevitably occur when such works are properly undertaken. Under the Act, the building owner must provide temporary protection for adjacent buildings and property when necessary. The building owner is also responsible to making good any damage caused by the works or provide payment in lieu if requested by the adjoining owner.

Local planning authorities are required to give notice of a planning application and can serve a notice on any adjoining owner or occupier to which an application relates. Neighbours can make their representations during the 21-day consultation period. The grant of planning permission does not grant the consent of the landowner or remove the need for applicants to also comply with other legal requirements such as building regulations approval and the Party Wall Act. An enforcement notice can be served by the local planning authority against any breach of planning control.

Property management companies are undoubtedly holding back home ownership. New homeowners are often obliged to sign up to contracts that they cannot leave. That leaves them stuck with inflated fees, and very often with poor services. I am sure the Minister agrees that management companies need their activities curbed; they need legislation imposed on them so that we can get back to a fairer system of housing.

I agree entirely. I thank my hon. Friend for the excellent debate that he brought to Westminster Hall, in which we discussed these issues in detail. I am happy to reiterate to the House that we will legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to deal with many of the issues that he has raised that are affecting freehold homeowners.

We want to make estate management companies more accountable to their freeholders for how their money is spent.

When Parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to legislate to ensure that freehold homeowners who pay estate rent charges have the right to challenge their reasonableness and to go to the tribunal to appoint a manager to manage the provision of services.

In addition, we will remove the statutory right for owners of rent charges to take possession or grant a lease of the property in the event of non-payment by the homeowner.

This Government is committed to helping aspiring home owners to take their first steps onto the housing ladder.

That is why home ownership forms a core part of the Government's £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which using our shared Ownership tenure, will deliver thousands of homes for affordable ownership right across the country.

Since 2010 we have delivered over 632,000 affordable homes of all tenures and an estimated 136,000 homes for Shared Ownership.

Restoring local pride is a critical part of the levelling up agenda. Pride in Place is one of the twelve missions set out in the Levelling Up White Paper. It brings together both the physical and social drivers that affect people's perception of place, including their sense of community and home. The Government is deepening our understanding of the evidence that drives local pride, and working with experts to understand the merits and efficacy of many different approaches to build pride in place in communities.

The Government has a range of home ownership schemes that are available to 18-40 year olds, including First Homes and Shared Ownership. We have doubled the threshold at which SDLT becomes due to £250,000 and expanded First Time Buyers Relief, raising the threshold at which stamp duty becomes payable from £300,000 to £425,000. The Government's Mortgage Guarantee Scheme also helps first-time buyers by increasing the supply of 95% loan-to-value mortgages for credit-worthy households.