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Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable homes have been provided by housing associations in Cumbria in each year since 1997. [42394]

 
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Yvette Cooper: The number of affordable housing units completed in Cumbria by housing associations funded through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme for each year since 1997 are shown as follows:

	Units
1997–98	143
1998–99	251
1999–2000	207
2000–01	193
2001–02	116
2002–03	137
2003–04	114
2004–05	107

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what items of information about property will be contained in a home condition report. [42615]

Yvette Cooper: The home condition report is an objective report on the physical condition of a property, including an energy performance certificate complying with the European Union (EU) Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings. It is one of the documents required to be provided in a home information pack, which also contains local search information, including whether or not the property is on the local authority's contaminated land register. The pack will also contain legal information about the property, such as evidence of title and leasehold information, and forms relating to contents and terms of sale.

The purpose of the home condition report is to provide the buyer, seller and mortgage lender with reliable information about the condition and energy performance of a home.

A home condition report must comply with requirements to be set out in regulations. It is intended that a home condition report will contain the home inspector's record of the following information about a property, as set out in the draft Home Information Pack Regulations, published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website:

The property address, the year of construction (or an estimate), and the number of storeys and rooms in the property.

The provision of parking.

The utility services connected to the property, and the condition of visible parts of these.

For flats/maisonettes, the number of storeys and other flats within the building, whether there is a lift, and the condition of the building and common areas.

Health and safety risks identified.

The condition of the outside and inside parts of the property and any outbuildings.

The energy performance of the property.

Whether there were any parts of the property not accessible for inspection.

The draft regulations also provide that the home condition report must not include anything which would identify or express an opinion on an individual, or any information about security features of a property.
 
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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which organisations will have access to the register of home condition reports. [42616]

Yvette Cooper: The Housing Act 2004 requires that access to the information stored in the register of home condition reports is controlled by regulations. The Government is currently considering which organisations and/or individuals should be given access to the information held in the home condition report register, and will take account of the views of stakeholders before making a final decision.

Mr. Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many house repossessions were made in each of the last five years in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Kingston and Surbiton. [43190]

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins) on 20 January 2006.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the change will be in the amount charged in rent under the housing subsidy determinations for 2006–07; and how much of this will be retained by the Government. [40348]

Yvette Cooper: Rent setting is a matter for individual landlords.

Actual rents are forecast to rise by an average 4.7 per cent. in England, with the average for any individual authority constrained by a 5 per cent. cap.

Rental income is not retained by the Government.

Mobile Phone Masts

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2836W, on mobile phone masts, if he will place in the Library the figures for the number of communication stations registered for business rates in England in each local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [42602]

Mr. Woolas: A table with the break down, of the 20,930 hereditaments shown in the Rating List at 31 March 2005 has been made available in the Library of the House.

Official Residences (Council Tax)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 12 January 2006, Official Report, columns 782–3W, on official residences (council tax), whether the sum he has repaid for outstanding council tax includes interest on the money owed; and if he will make a statement. [44067]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The payments that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is making to Westminster City Council are entirely voluntary and he
 
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has no legal obligation to make them. There is no need for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to add interest to them.

Ordnance Survey

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many aerial photographs Ordnance Survey (a) took and (b) purchased from external suppliers in each of the last five years. [42655]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of aerial photographs captured by Ordnance Survey and purchased from external suppliers in each of the last five financial years is as follows.

	Ordnance survey	External suppliers
2001–02	29,420	0
2002–03	39,842	72,591
2003–04	54,678	103,616
2004–05	30,023	45,297
2005–06 to date	40,224	108,619

Overcrowding

Ms Keeble: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to consult on new standards for overcrowding in housing. [42569]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is still considering options for reviewing the statutory standards and will take a decision on the timing of consultation as soon as possible.

Overhead Power Lines (Kent)

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the (a) cost and (b) feasibility of undergrounding overhead power lines in Kent Thameside as part of the on-going regeneration of the area. [42201]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is taking forward its programme of regeneration with local partners, including private developers. To date, this issue has not emerged as a major barrier to regenerating the area. Therefore, there is no current feasibility work under way looking at undergrounding overhead power lines in North Kent.

Developers should work with local authorities and other relevant bodies at an early stage in the planning process to find sustainable and, where appropriate, innovative solutions towards creating positive and high quality environments.

Park Homes

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many park homes are registered in (a) Band A, (b) Band B, (c) Band C, (d) Band D, (e) Band E, (f) Band F, (g) Band G and (h) Band H for council tax purposes. [43182]

Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of park homes in England in each council tax band is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Council tax in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.
 
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