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30 Apr 2007 : Column 1521W—continued
Right to Buy Scheme: Social Security Benefits
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of council tenants who exercised the right to buy were receiving (a) council tax benefit and (b) housing benefit in each of the last five years. [133780]
Yvette Cooper: This information is not collected. The ability of tenants who are in receipt of benefits to exercise their right to buy would depend on the willingness of lenders to offer them mortgage finance, or the availability of financial assistance from family or friends.
Social Rented Housing
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people, living in social housing and holding life-time tenancy in England are aged (a) 18 to 25, (b ) 26 to 40, (c) 40 to 55 and (d) over 55 years. [134064]
Yvette Cooper: Separate figures for those with lifetime tenancies are not available. Figures for the whole of the social rented sector are as follows:
| Age of tenant | Number of households | Percentage |
| Source: ONS, Labour Force Survey | ||
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people living in social housing hold life-time tenancy in England. [134066]
Yvette Cooper:
The Housing Corporation estimates that at end-March 2006 about 97 per cent. of housing association tenancies were lifetime tenancies. Equivalent
figures for local authorities are not available, so an estimate of the total number of lifetime tenancies in social housing cannot be provided.
Social Rented Housing: Insurance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to require registered social landlords to advise their tenants to take out home contents insurance. [134942]
Yvette Cooper: Registered social landlords are required to provide high standards of customer care. Landlords should consider all aspects of this, including insurance. The Housing Corporation has issued good practice guidance on facilitating access to insurance called “Insurance for All” which is available on the corporation’s website.
Social Rented Housing: Unemployment
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people living in social housing in England are (a) employed and (b) unemployed. [134054]
Yvette Cooper: In England, in 2006, an estimated 1,162,000 householders in social housing were employed and 213,000 were unemployed.
The remaining householders in social housing comprised an estimated 1,195,000 retired householders and 1,084,000 householders who were inactive for some other reason.
These figures are derived from the Labour Force Survey, a continuous survey ran by the Office for National Statistics.
Temporary Accommodation
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of placing homeless households in long-term placements in temporary accommodation outside their local authority area. [133729]
Yvette Cooper: Under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996), local housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for housing applicants accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need. In some cases it may be appropriate for a homeless household to be placed in accommodation outside the local authority area but authorities are required to ensure that, so far as reasonably practicable, accommodation is secured in their district. Moreover, we have issued statutory guidance—the “Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities”—which states that wherever possible the accommodation secured should be as close as possible to where applicants were previously living, so they can retain established links with schools, doctors, social workers and other key services and support essential to the well-being of the household.
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