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Social Housing

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many council houses have been transferred to RSLs and other private bodies since 1997. [57271]

Ms Keeble: In the five years since January 1997, it is estimated that approximately 365,000 council houses in England have been transferred to RSLs and other private bodies.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many council houses have been (a) built and (b) sold in each local authority since 1997. [57270]

Ms Keeble: The number of council dwellings built has been falling for many years. Of the 354 local authorities, only 48 reported completing any council dwellings since April 1997. These are given in the following table. These figures are based on monthly numbers reported by local authorities and have not been adjusted for incomplete returns. Figures for the number of dwellings completed each year are published in the Department's Local Housing Statistics.

20 May 2002 : Column 116W

Tables showing reported information on council houses sold by each local authority in England, along with national and regional summaries, for each year since 1979–80 are available in the Library.

New council dwellings built between April 1997 and March 2002

Local authorityCouncil dwellings built
Ashford9
Bedford8
Bristol17
Broadland6
Bromsgrove21
Canterbury11
Cotswold54
Derwentside6
Derby1
Durham3
Eastbourne8
East Hampshire26
East Hertfordshire4
East Lindsey1
Eden1
Erewash12
Hackney34
Hertsmere1
Hillingdon37
Islington5
Kennet11
Leeds17
Leicester130
Litchfield21
Mansfield10
Milton Keynes7
Mole Valley12
North Hertfordshire1
Nottingham15
Reigate and Banstead2
Rotherham4
Rushcliffe17
Sandwell33
Selby3
Sevenoaks1
Shepway2
South Bucks29
South Cambridgeshire55
South Hams24
South Kesteven8
South Northamptonshire1
South Tyneside11
Stroud46
Teignbridge4
Waltham Forrest282
Waveney1
West Oxfordshire3
Worcester27

Supported Housing

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what safeguards have been put in place to ensure that tenants in supported housing, whose support costs are met in full by housing benefits, will continue to have these costs met in full from April 2003 under the provisions of Supporting People. [57209]

Ms Keeble: Local authorities administering Supporting People from April 2003 are being instructed to pay Supporting People grants where housing benefit is

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currently covering support costs and are auditing the preparation to make this change. People on housing benefit at 31 March 2003 will see no change.

Affordable Housing

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many affordable

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empty homes there were in (a) rural areas by region and (b) England by region in each of the last 10 years. [56974]

Ms Keeble [holding answer 16 May 2002]: The number of local authority (LA) and registered social landlord (RSL) empty homes in (a) rural areas by region and (b) England by region in each of the last ten years are set out in the following tables:

Table 1: Number of LA and RSL empty homes in England which are in rural areas by region

1 April:
Region 200120001999199819971996199519941993(29)1992
North-east3,5003,0002,8002,6002,2002,2002,1001,9001,7002,000
North-west2,4002,2002,0001,7001,6001,4001,2001,0001,1001,000
Yorkshire and Humberside1,1001,4001,1001,000800600600600700600
East Midlands1,1001,3001,2001,2001,2001,200900800800600
West Midlands700900700800700700600600500500
East of England1,3001,5001,5001,5001,5001,6001,2001,3001,7001,200
London0000000000
South-east1,3001,5001,9001,7001,7001,4001,3001,3001,8001,200
South-west1,3001,6001,5001,4001,6001,5001,3001,3001,4001,000
England12,70013,40012,70011,90011,30010,6009,2008,8009,7008,100

(29) Figures for 1993 are unusually high due to many dwellings bought by RSLs towards the end of the financial year (1992–93) under the Housing Market Package.


Table 2: Total number of LA and RSL empty homes in England by region

1 April:
Region 200120001999199819971996199519941993(30)1992
North-east12,10012,10011,40011,10010,1009,4008,5007,6007,7008,500
North-west31,50030,10026,50024,50021,10019,10017,10016,30019,40020,500
Yorkshire and Humberside17,50017,80016,60015,30014,20011,80010,00010,1009,9009,200
East Midlands8,6008,7007,6007,1007,3007,3005,7005,3005,7004,800
West Midlands16,10017,20014,20013,20011,90010,9009,6009,0009,4008,800
East of England5,6005,9005,9005,6006,0005,8005,3005,4006,5004,800
London18,80020,20021,70022,10025,10027,30026,30026,60027,10023,700
South-east6,8007,2007,6007,3007,7007,2006,2006,4008,0005,800
South-west4,6005,5005,1004,7004,5004,3003,9003,8003,8003,500
England121,600124,700116,600110,900107,900103,10092,60090,50097,50089,600

(30) Figures for 1993 are unusually high due to many dwellings bought by RSLs towards the end of the financial year (1992–93) under the Housing Market Package.

Note:

Figures rounded to the nearest 100

Sources:

For Table 1 and Table 2: DTLR's annual Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns and the Housing Corporation's annual HAR 10 and Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR)


Housing Stock Transfers

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the local housing authorities who have transferred their council house stock to date to alternative landlords and give in each case (a) the grant from Government to write off debt, (b) the total cost to the local authority in professional fees, (c) other relevant costs of the transfer and (d) the capital receipt. [56695]

Ms Keeble: I have placed in the Libraries of the House lists which show all large scale voluntary transfers completed to date. The details include the four Government one-off payments in transfers where the capital receipt was insufficient to pay off the authority's housing debt, the set up cost for transfer and the capital receipt. Costs to local authorities for professional fees are not held centrally.

Lighting Maintenance

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what has been included in the Single Capital Pot for road, bridge and street lighting maintenance as part of this year's LTP settlement. [57266]

Ms Keeble: All of the block allocation for highway maintenance in the 2002–03 LTP settlement has been included in the Single Capital Pot. The total allocation

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was £545 million made up of indicative amounts of £189 million for principal roads, £243 million for non- principal roads, and £113 million for bridges. There was no indicative allocation for street lighting. In addition £10 million was allocated for major maintenance schemes greater than £5 million: this sum is not included in the Single Capital Pot.

It is for local authorities to decide how much capital resource from the Single Capital Pot they will spend on highway maintenance in the light of their priorities for this and the other services they provide.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether an allowance for street lighting will be included in the LTP settlement for 2003–04. [57267]

Ms Keeble: A decision on whether to include an indicative amount for street lighting in the LTP highway maintenance settlement for 2003–04 has not yet been taken. It would depend upon the total resources available and the progress made in other areas of maintenance. The first targets in the 10 Year Plan for Transport are to stop carriageway deterioration by 2004 and to complete bridge strengthening to carry 40 tonne lorries where necessary.

Provision for street lighting replacement is already made within the Highways Maintenance Standard Spending Assessment for Revenue Support Grant. Local authorities are also free to fund street lighting replacement from the Single Capital Pot which has been introduced in 2002–03.


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