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17 July 2006 : Column 116W—continued


(b) The geographical county of Lancashire is made up of 12 district authorities and 2 unitary authorities, Blackburn and Darwen and Blackpool. The totals are in the following table:


17 July 2006 : Column 117W

17 July 2006 : Column 118W
(i) Homeless households in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities in Lancashire, and (ii) the number of rough sleepers in Lancashire
Number of households in temporary accommodation( 1) (31 March snapshot) o.w. Unitary authority o.w. LA districts Number of rough sleepers, people, mid-year (June) estimate( 2) o.w. Unitary authority o.w. LA districts

2001-02

270

52

218

4

4

2002-03

343

76

267

7

4

3

2003-04

360

102

258

3

3

2004-05

444

132

312

21

4

17

2005-06

348

76

272

7

4

3

(1) Households in accommodation at the end of the year (March) either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as “homeless at home” that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by the authority. (2) Number of persons sleeping rough are based on local authority counts during the year and presented as a mid-year estimate. If no count takes place during the year an estimate is given by the local authority. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness (quarterly) and HSSA (annual) returns.

Information on the number of beds available for homeless households is not held centrally.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have been in temporary accommodation in West Lancashire in each of the last 10 years. [83553]

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities report their activities under homelessness legislation quarterly, and this includes the number of homeless households in various forms of temporary accommodation as on the last day of the quarter.

The duty owed to a person accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. As an alternative to the provision of temporary accommodation some authorities arrange for households to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available.

The West Lancashire constituency is wholly contained in the West Lancashire local authority, although the authority also contains part of the South Ribble constituency. Figures for the entire West Lancashire authority for the last 10 years are tabled as follows:

Homeless households in temporary accommodation arranged by West Lancashire district council
31 March Number( 1)

1996-97

6

1997-98

6

1998-99

3

1999-2000

1

2000-01

4

2001-02

6

2002-03

0

2003-04

5

2004-05

2

2005-06

1

(1) Households in accommodation at the end of the year (March) either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as “homeless at home” that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by the authority. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness (quarterly) returns.

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many single vulnerable households were accepted as homeless in West Suffolk in each of the last five years. [82718]

Yvette Cooper: Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly, at local authority level. The parliamentary constituency of West Suffolk consists of Forest Heath DC and part of St Edmundsbury DC.

Statistical returns distinguish the number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, and unintentionally homeless according to the main category of priority need the applicant falls within. The returns do not identify the number of people in the household. Information reported by Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury district councils, which covers the whole of their districts, in each year since 2001-02 is summarised in the following table:


17 July 2006 : Column 119W
Households accepted as eligible, unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category
Total households Of which
Containing dependent children Containing an expectant mother Applicant or family member vulnerable( 1)

Forest Heath district council

2001-02

43

31

5

7

2002-03

45

31

8

6

2003-04

57

37

9

11

2004-05

55

44

11

2005-06

55

31

13

11

St Edmundsbury district council

2001-02

120

93

6

21

2002-03

146

96

17

33

2003-04

141

87

20

34

2004-05

188

119

20

49

2005-06

139

89

21

29

(1 )As well as applicants, or members of their household, considered vulnerable, figures also include households homeless in an emergency, applicants aged 16 or 17 years old, and applicants formerly in care and aged 18 to 20 years old. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly).

Housing

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes for (a) sale , (b) rent and (c) shared ownership were (i) agreed, (ii) started and (iii) completed by each planning authority years under section 106 agreements in each of the last five. [84229]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 July 2006]: A table showing the number of dwellings built for (a) sale, (b) rent and (c) shared ownership as well as planning permissions given as a result of section 106 agreements in each local authority in England, in each year from 2000-01 to 2004-05, has been placed in the Library of the House. Information on the number of building starts is not held centrally.

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many vacant homes there are in (a) West Sussex and (b) the area covered by the South East plan. [84842]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 July 2006]: As at 10 October 2005 there were 9,000 vacant dwellings in West Sussex and 100,400 in the South East. The area covered by the South East plan is the same as that covered by the South East region.

These figures are for all vacant dwellings, including dwellings that have been empty for less than six months, some for less than one month.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government’s estimate is of the number of residential housing transactions that took place in England and Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available. [85702]


17 July 2006 : Column 120W

Yvette Cooper: Figures for the number of residential housing transactions by local authority areas based on data from the Land Registry are published on the DCLG website at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/162/Table588_id1156162.xls.

There were 1.02 million residential housing transactions in 2005 in England and Wales. In 2004 there were 1.23 million transactions. The number of transactions varies significantly from year to year due to a range of factors in the housing market.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses were built in rural areas in each year since 2000. [85131]

Yvette Cooper: New build completions data are only available at local authority level therefore it is only possible to measure how many dwellings have been built in local authorities classified as rural by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) rural definition and local authority classification. This will include dwellings built in towns that are within a local authority classified as rural.

The following number of dwellings were reported to have been built in local authorities classified as rural in England since 2000:

Number
Rural classification 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Significant Rural

20,428

20,109

20,882

21,559

21,974

21,807

Rural-50

19,996

18,651

18,482

18,898

18,407

20,692

Rural-80

21,306

21,098

22,271

21,419

21,709

22,626

Total

61,730

59,858

61,635

61,876

62,090

65,125


For further information on the DEFRA classification please see: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/rural_resd/rural_definition.asp

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the latest timetable is for producing guidance and draft regulations under the Housing Act 2004. [75418]

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is in the following table.


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