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24 May 2007 : Column 1531W—continued
Homebuy Scheme
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average cash value has been of the equity purchased by social tenants under Social Homebuy purchases. [129198]
Yvette Cooper: The average cash value of the equity purchased by social tenants under the Social Homebuy pilot scheme is £117,125. This figure reflects that many of the early sales have involved tenants buying their home outright where they did not have a Right to Buy or Right to Acquire.
Homelessness: Hostels
Mr. Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2007, Official Report, column 657W, on homelessness: hostels, how many single homeless people are living in hostel accommodation being upgraded under the Hostel Capital Improvement Programme. [136531]
Yvette Cooper: There are currently 175 homelessness projects in the Hostels Capital Improvement Programme. The HCIP not only covers hostels but also day centres and other projects that provide training and real work experience for people who are homeless or living in a hostel. There are currently around 7,500 bedspaces in hostels in the programme. The Department does not collect information on the numbers of single homeless people living in hostel accommodation.
Mr. Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which bids for the recent Hostel Capital Improvement Programme funding were unsuccessful. [136536]
Yvette Cooper: The £90 million Hostels Capital Improvement Programme ends in March 2008 and has been fully allocated with the aim of making hostels places of change. Where HCIP projects have been unable to proceed for reasons of planning or where a suitable site was subsequently lost, we have re-allocated the funds which has not involved formal bidding. In these cases new projects have been brought into the programme where they fit with the programme’s aims and are supported by the relevant local authority. Where a local authority identifies a possible project, they are advised to approach CLG even though the programme is fully allocated in order to take advantage of any slippage which may occur.
Housing: Energy
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how long it takes to train (a) a domestic energy assessor and (b) a home inspector. [136947]
Yvette Cooper: The time taken for an individual to qualify as a home inspector or domestic energy assessor would depend on their previous experience and the amount of training they require in order to meet the required standards.
Currently advertised training schemes for home inspectors can vary between three and 12 months, depending on the starting competency level of the candidate. Domestic energy assessor courses range between four and 12 weeks, with the duration dependant on the initial level of knowledge and competence of the candidate, although at least one other provider is offering an intensive course lasting one week.
To meet the needs of candidates who are already employed and cannot study full-time, most courses comprise several days of assessed workshops, together with distance learning carried out in the candidates own time. If a candidate wished to undertake their distance learning on a full-time basis, they could complete their course in a shorter period.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how many (a) home inspectors and (b) domestic energy assessors will qualify on 1 June. [136948]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 May.
Housing: Inspections
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) energy assessors and (b) home inspectors are qualified and available to produce energy performance certificates; and what estimate she has made of the number who will be qualified and available from 1 June 2007. [128603]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 May 2007.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how long it takes to qualify as a (a) home inspector and (b) domestic energy assessor on a Government-approved scheme. [129068]
Yvette Cooper: The time taken for an individual to qualify as a home inspector or domestic energy assessor would depend on their previous experience and the amount of training they require in order to meet the required standards.
Currently advertised training schemes for home inspectors can vary between three and 12 months, depending on the starting competency level of the candidate. Domestic energy assessor courses range between four and 12 weeks, with the duration dependant on the initial level of knowledge and competence of the candidate, although at least one other provider is offering an intensive course lasting one week.
To meet the needs of candidates who are already employed and cannot study full-time, most courses comprise several days of assessed workshops, together with distance learning carried out in the candidates own time. If a candidate wished to undertake their distance learning on a full-time basis, they could complete their course in a shorter period.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the website listing accredited home inspectors at www.hcrregister.com has cost (a) to establish and (b) to run; and what proportion of those costs has been met by her Department. [139043]
Yvette Cooper: There is no cost to the Government on the operation of www.hcrregister.com. The contract to provide this service was let by a concession agreement entirely funded by the successful service provider.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of qualified home inspectors she expects the website www.hcrregister.com to list. [139044]
Yvette Cooper: The register will hold names of all certified Home Inspectors from 1 August 2007. These data are provided by Home Inspector Certification schemes. Due to the Data Protection Act, full contact details of certified Home Inspectors are only available if the individual has consented for these details to be used in this register.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the website listing accredited home inspectors to go back online. [139045]
Yvette Cooper: The Energy Performance Certificate and Home Condition Report Register (www.hcrregister.com) was down for maintenance for 10 minutes at 2.30 pm on Friday 18 May 2007 while the explanatory text for users was updated.
The purpose of this site is to allow users to retrieve existing Energy Performance Certificates and Home Condition Reports, or to verify assessors or inspectors to ensure they are accredited or certificated.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether home inspectors registered at www.hcrregister.com will have to hold Criminal Records Bureau clearance. [139080]
Yvette Cooper: All home inspectors must have a standard Criminal Record Bureau check before they are allowed to carry out their duties.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to include an assessment of the individual performance of home inspectors on the www.hcrregister.com website. [139081]
Yvette Cooper: There are no plans to include an assessment of each individual Home Inspector on any central database.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how frequently she expects home inspector details to be updated on the website www.hcrregister.com; and how quickly details will be updated once the status of an inspector listed changes. [139082]
Yvette Cooper: From 1 August 2007, Home Inspector Certification Schemes are required to provide a daily update on the status of Home Inspectors, which is run by the Register Operator at the end of each day. The details on the website will reflect the status of Home Inspectors at the close of business the previous day.
Housing: Standards
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many assessments were carried out in (a) England and Wales, (b) each English region and (c) each London local authority under the Housing Health and Safety ratings system (HHSRS) in 2006-07; how many assessments under the HHSRS last year in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority were on properties in (A) the private rented sector, (B) local authorities and arms-length management organisations and (C) the registered social landlord sector; [135284]
(2) how many properties in the private rented sector were assessed under the Housing Health and Safety ratings system as representing a (a) Category 1 hazard and (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority in 2006-07; [135285]
(3) how many council and arms-length management organisation properties were assessed as having (a) Housing Health and Safety ratings system Category 1 hazard and (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in each (i) English region and (ii) London local authority in 2006-07; [135286]
(4) how many registered and social landlord properties were assessed as representing a Housing Health and Safety ratings system (a) Category 1 hazard and (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority in 2006-07. [135287]
Yvette Cooper: The Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) only came in force on 3 April 2006 so the Department has not yet collected data on its use from local authorities. The Department will be collecting information on housing assessments through the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and the Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA) returned by local authorities which will provide data as at April 2007. It is usual for the Department to publish the HSSA and BPSA at the end of the year subject to the data quality.
The HSSA data will include figures for dwellings with category 1 hazards, the estimated cost of removing the category 1 hazards in private sector dwellings and the number of private sector dwellings made free of category 1 hazards or demolished as a direct result of action by the local authority during 2006-07.
The BPSA data will include figures for the number of local authority homes that do not meet the statutory minimum standard for housing and the costs to put the defects right.
The English House Condition Survey will provide a national estimate of category 1 hazards for its 2006 findings, which we expect to publish early 2008. This will provide estimates of the number of category 1 hazards in each type of housing stock at the national level.
The Department is also committed to undertaking a detailed review the operation of the HHSRS once the system has been in operation for a while.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether social housing properties assessed as representing a Category 1 hazard under the Housing Health and Safety ratings system will be deemed to meet the Decent Homes standard. [135288]
Yvette Cooper: Definition and Guidance published by the Department in June 2006 states that the first of the four criteria a decent home must meet is that it meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing. Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those containing one or more hazards assessed as serious (‘category 1’) under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which local authorities have not yet received the additional money allocated for meeting the decent homes standard due to not reaching the designated quality standard; [138860]
(2) how many local authorities had not been awarded 2 star status for housing as at 31 March; [138861]
(3) which local authorities have received a 2 star inspection award for housing. [138862]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 23 May 2007]: The need to achieve a 2 star rating from the Housing Inspectorate in order to qualify for decent homes funding applies only to arms length management organisations (ALMOs) set up by local authorities that are seeking additional Government resources to bring their housing stock up to the decent homes standard.
57 ALMOs have been set up since 2002 under the first five ALMO bidding rounds. 56 of these have now been inspected. 46 have achieved at least the necessary 2 star rating to qualify for funding. Eight have been awarded 0 or 1 star ratings and are preparing for or awaiting the results of re-inspection. Two have recently had initial inspections and are awaiting the results. The following table lists the local authorities involved, and funding provided.
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