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4 Sep 2006 : Column 1656W—continued
Home Condition Reports/Information Packs
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to issue a format for home condition reports which will standardise that content within home information reports. [85138]
Yvette Cooper: On 14 June 2006, the Department for Communities and Local Government published the standards for certification schemes which set out the form of the Home Condition Report. These can be found on the DCLG website at www.communities.gov.uk. The standards also set out the inspection and reporting requirements that home inspectors must observe.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what advice the information commissioner has provided in relation to the register of home condition reports. [83063]
Yvette Cooper: The Department for Communities and Local Government has had various discussions with the Information Commissioner's office about the home condition report register, and access to it, to ensure that the arrangements comply with data protection and privacy standards.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the publication of further (a) guidance and (b) circulars on home information packs. [83234]
Yvette Cooper: We expect to set out further information on the dry run and the next steps for market led roll-out of home condition reports with home information packs in the autumn. Further guidance for consumers will follow after that.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a home information pack will be needed to sell a (a) park home and (b) mobile home. [85715]
Yvette Cooper: A home information pack will not be required for a park home or mobile home.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average income of a qualified, full-time home inspector. [83042]
Yvette Cooper: The cost of a home condition report will be set by the market. The current cost of a mid-level survey is around £400 plus VAT. A home inspector's income will generally depend on how many inspections they carry out and on the size of the property.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in what circumstances home inspectors (a) may and (b) will take photographs as part of their inspection of a property. [83048]
Yvette Cooper: The home condition report does not include photographs. However, the home inspector may, subject to obtaining the home owner's permission, take photographs during the course of an inspection to supplement the site notes which will form the basis of their preparation of the home condition report. This is the current practice of surveyors when undertaking home surveys.
Homelessness
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to offer greater protection from homelessness to people living in properties left in trust; and if she will make a statement. [82710]
Yvette Cooper: All trusts must use the properties held by them in accordance with the terms of their trusteeship and these may preclude them from acting in a way that is any different from any commercial landlord. Therefore, like all other tenants, those they let to must rely on the terms of their tenancy agreements.
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what percentage of people in the (a) Houghton and Washington, East constituency and (b) Sunderland city council area were (i) homeless and (ii) on Sunderland city council’s housing waiting list in each year since 1997. [87371]
Yvette Cooper: (i) Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation, which is collected in respect of households rather than persons, is collected quarterly and at local authority level. The parliamentary constituency of Houghton and Washington, East falls entirely within the Sunderland local authority.
The number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need for each year since 1997-98, and the number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities under homelessness legislation as at 31 March of each year since 1998, is tabled for the Sunderland local authority. The percentage of total number of households in temporary accommodation is also included.
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.
Information is also collected on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night—and these are also presented in the table.
| Number of households in Sunderland (1) accepted as homeless( 1) and (2) placed in temporary accommodation; (3) the proportion of total households in temporary accommodation; and (4) the number of rough sleepers | ||||
| ( 1) Number households accepted as homeless | Number of households in TA (31 March snapshot) | ( 2) Percentage of households in TA/total households | Number of rough sleepers, people, (June estimate) | |
| (1) Households found to be eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and falling within a priority need group, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty by the local authority. (2 )Based on mid-year estimates of household population. Sources: ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly) and HSSA returns (annual) | ||||
(ii) Information about housing waiting lists is not collected at constituency level. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Central dated 7 November 2005, Official Report, columns 1114-16W, in which the number of households on the housing waiting list for Sunderland local authority, and the percentage of total households in the Sunderland local authority area were presented.
Housing
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2006, Official Report, columns 139-40W, on house sales, when the Department expects the baseline research to be completed. [82726]
Yvette Cooper: The baseline study on the home buying and selling process will be reporting later on this year.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of homes were built on brownfield sites in (a) Bournemouth and (b) Dorset (i) between 1997 and 2003 and (ii) since 2003. [86690]
Yvette Cooper: The information available is from the Department's land use change statistics. The estimated percentage of new dwellings built on brownfield land are shown in the following table:
| Percentage | ||
| Bournemouth | Dorset | |
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to ensure that new houses built under the sustainable communities programme meet high standards of energy efficiency; and if she will make a statement. [85884]
Meg Munn: The Government are committed to improving energy efficiency standards in all housing. The new buildings regulations part L 2006, taken together with changes to strengthen the building regulations in 2002 and 2005, will improve energy efficiency standards by 40 per cent. from pre-April 2002 levels. The new draft code for sustainable homes will also raise the environmental standard of housing further and will signal the future direction of building regulations.
To achieve the higher levels of housing growth set out in the sustainable communities plan we recognise that new homes must be built in a sustainable way to reduce their environmental impact and carbon footprint. We have already committed around £400 million to the development of the three growth areas and £850 million for the Thames Gateway up to March 2008. This is to deliver on all aspects of a sustainable community, including environmental performance.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average (a) cost is of private homes for sale and (b) monthly rental is for (i) private homes and (ii) social homes for rent divided by the average net household income of (A) all working age households and (B) households headed by people aged 25 to 40 years in (1) England, (2) Yorkshire and the Humber and (3) each housing local authority area in Yorkshire and the Humber. [87133]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 25 July 2006]: The information is as follows:
(a) Average property prices for the period April 2004 to March 2005 were as follows. More recent prices are available but this period has been chosen for consistency with the answer to part (b) for which 2004-05 is the most recent available.
| Average (£) | |
| Source: Land Registry | |
(b) For 2004-05, the average net rent expressed as a percent of average disposable income is set out in the following table for:
private renters and social renters;
household reference persons of (i) working age and (ii) aged between 25 and 39;
England and Yorkshire & Humber.
Equivalent figures for individual local authorities are not available.
| Average net rent expressed as a percentage of average disposable income, 2004-05 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Private renters | Social renters | |
| (1 )HRP stands for Household Reference Person (formerly Head of Household) (2) Working age is 16-64 for male HRPs and 16-59 for female HRPs Notes: 1. All rents and incomes have been derived from DWP's Family Resources Survey for 2004-05. 2. Disposable income (equivalent to "net income") equals gross income less deductions for income tax and National Insurance contributions. 3. The income measure used was the joint disposable income of the HRP plus partner (if any) and not "household income". This is because, whilst there might be other income earners in the household, the HRP and spouse alone will generally have responsibility for paying the rent—so their joint income was considered to be the more appropriate income measure. 4. The rents used in the calculations were the average rents net of housing benefit (as opposed to gross rents). Net rents were considered more appropriate for comparison with disposable incomes. Source: Department for Work & Pensions: Family Resources Survey, 2004-05 | ||
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