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25 Jun 2007 : Column 165W—continued
Housing
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in how many consecutive years a local authority is allowed to fail to meet its own target for the delivery of affordable housing as recorded in the Annual Monitoring Report before she will (a) call in the local plan and (b) direct the local authority to modify the plan. [118896]
Yvette Cooper: The Secretary of State’s call-in powers in section 21 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 are relevant only in advance of the adoption of the plan by the local authority. The Secretary of State may issue a direction to a local authority to revise an adopted plan within a set time scale. The Secretary of State’s powers in this regard would be used only exceptionally, depending on the particular circumstances of the plan in question.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the report on the future of housing policy and access to social housing is due to be (a) completed and (b) published; and if she will make a statement. [143958]
Yvette Cooper: Professor John Hills’s report ‘Ends and Means: The Future Role of Social Housing in England’ was published in February 2007.
The report has provoked a wide-ranging debate on the role of social housing in the 21st century. We are now carrying out a programme of work to address the issues raised.
As part of this programme, on 19 June we launched two key consultations ‘Delivering Housing & Regeneration: Communities England and the future of social housing regulation’, which outlines proposals to create a new housing and regeneration agency and responds to Professor Martin Cave’s review of social housing regulation ‘Every Tenant Matters’, also published on 19 June; and ‘Tenant Empowerment’, which outlines proposals to increase empowerment of social housing tenants.
Further details of these consultations are provided in the written statement ‘Delivering affordable housing, sustainable communities and better outcomes for tenants’, laid on 19 June 2007.
Housing: Armed Forces
Mr. Harper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of service personnel applying for social housing from local authorities
under (a) Part VI and (b) Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (i) prior to and (ii) following discharge. [133143]
Ruth Kelly: No information is held centrally about the number of service personnel and former service personnel applying to local authorities for social housing in England.
Housing: Construction
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of flat and house sales were for new build properties in each of the last five years. [143481]
Yvette Cooper: The proportions of flat and house sales that were for new build properties for each of the last five years for England is presented in the table as follows. Data for 2006 are provisional.
| Proportion of residential house price transactions that were new by dwelling type in England, 2002-06 | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | ( 1) 2006 | |
| (1)( )provisional Source: HM Land Registry | |||||
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the homes in the five eco villages will be (a) social housing, (b) shared ownership and (c) low cost housing. [143640]
Yvette Cooper: Further information about plans for eco-towns will be set out later this year.
Housing: Elderly
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the arrangements to inform and protect elderly homebuyers purchasing lifetime leases; how many complaints were made to the Government concerning such schemes in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [142174]
Yvette Cooper: The regulatory treatment of lifetime leases was addressed in the Government’s response to the March 2006 consultation document, “Secondary legislation for the regulation of home reversion and home purchase plans”. The Government response to that consultation is available at
We do not have figures on complaints. Older people can receive free legal advice and information on residential leasehold issues from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). LEASE is a non departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Housing: Inspections
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s latest figures are for the number of fully trained and accredited (a) home inspectors and (b) domestic energy assessors in the South East Government Office Region. [143047]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Banbury on 11 June 2007, Official Report, column 817W.
Further regular updates will be available on the Department’s website.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) home inspectors and (b) energy inspectors have been officially accredited. [145227]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) on 11 June 2007, Official Report, column 817W.
As I made clear to the House on 12 June we will shortly begin publishing regular updates on the website. This will keep the industry informed on progress and assist its preparations for the next phase of implementation.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) home and (b) energy inspectors will be required to produce photographic identification to enter a domestic dwelling. [145519]
Yvette Cooper: Each Certification and Accreditation Scheme will issue identification cards to its members to use when entering a domestic dwelling to carry out their duties. There will be no cold calling by any HI or DEA; householders will have been given the name of the HI/DEA when the appointment was made for the inspection.
Housing: Low Incomes
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many dwellings in England are recorded by the Valuation Office Agency with a value significant code of ZI (subsidised housing—housing association—equity share). [128558]
Mr. Woolas: As at 3 March 2007, there were 5,254 dwellings in England with this code.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties in each local authority in England are coded by the Valuation Office Agency with the WK value significant code. [128559]
Mr. Woolas: The number of dwellings with the VSC ‘WK’ as at 3 March 2007 has been tabulated and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Housing: Middlesbrough
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new council houses are planned for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland. [143426]
Yvette Cooper: Local authority social rented housing stock in both Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland has been transferred to registered social landlords under the Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) programme. In the case of Middlesbrough the properties are now managed by Erimus Housing Association and, in Redcar and Cleveland, by Coast and Country Housing.
The only available data on new social homes is at local authority level. The figures for the period 2004-07 are as follows:
| Uni t | ||
| For s ale/shared ownership | For rent | |
| Source: Housing Corporation: National Affordable Homes Programme | ||
Housing: Prices
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average price of an (a) house and (b) flat in (i) England and (ii) each Government office region was in (A) 2000 and (B) the most recent year for which figures are available. [143475]
Yvette Cooper: The mean average selling price of a house and flat in England and each Government office region for 2000 and 2006 is presented in the following table.
| Mean average selling price by type of dwelling by region, England, 2000 and 2006 | ||||
| 2000 | 2006( 1) | |||
| House | Flat | House | Flat | |
| (1) Provisional figures. Source: HM Land Registry. | ||||
Housing: Sales
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many domestic dwellings were marketed for sale in (a) England and (b) Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [143479]
Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of domestic dwellings marketed for sale in England and Wales is not held centrally. However figures on the number of residential properties sold in England and Wales each year are available from the Land Registry and are published on our website at
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes with four or more bedrooms were sold in England in the last 12 months. [145131]
Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect the information requested.
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