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Houses in Multiple Occupation
Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses in multiple occupation there are in (a) Hemsworth, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England. [109985]
Mr. McNulty: Information on numbers of houses in multiple occupation in each local authority area in England is collected as part of the annual Housing Investment Programme round. Data are not available at parliamentary constituency level. The most recently reported figures were as follows:
| Wakefield metropolitan city council | 432 |
| Local authorities in Yorkshire(15) | 22,100 |
| Local authorities in England | 407,800 |
(15) Councils in North Yorkshire and the former metropolitan counties of North and South Yorkshire.
Housing Bill
Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposals contained in the draft Housing Bill on domestic gas safety. [109984]
Mr. McNulty: The provisions in Parts 2 and 3 of the draft Housing Bill will enable local housing authorities to impose conditions for the proper management of houses and flats that are subject to licensing. This will raise health and safety standards in part because a licence condition may include a requirement to carry out
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gas safety checks. Such a condition will reinforce the current statutory requirement that a landlord carries out an annual inspection of gas appliances and fittings in any property that he lets, under The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Under Part 5 of the Bill, anyone marketing a home will be required to produce a Home Information Pack, including a Home Condition Report. That report will include an informed opinion on the condition of services, including gas, based on a visual inspection. This should go a long way towards ensuring that potential hazards or safety issues are drawn to the attention of both the seller and any prospective buyer.
Local Authorities (Development Plans)
Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to paragraph 3.125 of Budget 2003, HC500, what incentive he will give to local authorities to encourage them to allow land allocated for industrial or commercial use in their development plans; and how greater help to planning authorities in negotiating planning obligations will be given. [110173]
Mr. McNulty: Some local planning authorities have allocations of land for employment and other uses which cannot realistically be taken up in the quantities envisaged over the lifetime of their development plan. The Government regard this as a wasted resource, especially in areas of high demand for housing. Local planning authorities should review all their non-housing allocations, and unless a convincing case for retention can be made, look favourably on housing or mixed use proposals on suitable sites. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposes to support this policy on appeal, and intends to issue updated guidance on planning obligations shortly.
Local Authority Social Housing Grant
Mr. Willis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the additional transitional funding for LASHG announced by his Department on 5 March 2003 is in addition to the £97million of Approved Development Programme announced in the Communities Plan on 5 February 2003. [109658]
Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced an additional £111 million of LASHG transitional funding, to safeguard schemes that could have gone ahead in 2003–04. This is in addition to the £175 million announced in the Communities Plan. The additional resources will be found from within current departmental provision.
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Mr. Battle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the areas supported by the recently announced funding package of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund; and if he will make a statement. [110186]
Mrs. Roche: The following current 88 eligible areas for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit Fund which will continue to receive additional funding for 2004–05 and 2005–06, are as follows.
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Private Landlords
Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of private landlords in (a) Hemsworth, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England. [109918]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the likely uptake by local authorities of the power to selectively license private landlords. [109986]
Mr. McNulty: The draft Housing Bill sets out a discretionary selective licensing power for local authorities, and the extent of take-up would therefore depend on decisions by individual local authorities in due course. Responses to the 2001 consultation on selective licensing indicated that 50 local authorities in England were in favour. For the purposes of the Regulatory Impact Assessment published with the draft Bill, we made the assumption that selective licensing would be taken up by a majority of local authorities in areas of low housing demand, and that 75 per cent. of low demand dwellings would be likely to be required to obtain a licence.
Regulatory Reform
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about the Regulatory Reform (Assured Periodic Tenancies) (Rent Increases) Order. [109969]
Mr. McNulty: Officials at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have answered a number of questions, mainly from registered social landlords, about the use and completion of new prescribed forms of rent increase notice applying the new rule on the timing of rent increases in the Regulatory Reform (Assured Periodic Tenancies) (Rent Increases) Order 2003.
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