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26 Jun 2007 : Column 640W—continued
Housing: Low Incomes
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding was allocated to build affordable housing in financial years (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; how much she plans to allocate in 2007-08; and how many affordable homes (i) were built in financial years 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) she estimates will be built in financial year 2007-08; [130118]
(2) what estimate she has made of the cost of building 50,000 social homes in the years 2006-07 and 2007-08; and if she will make a statement; [130120]
(3) what estimate she has made of the number of social homes that will be completed in 2006-07. [130121]
Yvette Cooper: Expenditure through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) in 2005-06 totalled £1.6 billion and for the two years 2006 to 2008 we allocated a further £3.9 billion, of which the Housing Corporation spent £1.9 billion in 2006-07.
In 2005-06 over 45,400 affordable homes were provided, with 36,386 of these being provided through Housing Corporation's AHP. Provisional figures for 2006-07 indicate that over 44,000 affordable homes
were provided, of which around 38,000 were through Housing Corporation's AHP. A further 56,000 affordable homes are planned for 2007-08, of which over 47,000 will be provided though the Housing Corporation's funding.
Provisional figures for 2006-07 show that over 25,000 social rented homes were provided of which 22,000 were through the Housing Corporation's AHP.
We have made no estimates for the cost of building 50,000 social rented homes in 2006-07 and 2007-08. We set the Housing Corporation targets to provide 21,000 social rented homes in 2006-07 and 28,000 in 2007-08. The latter homes will contribute towards our target of providing 30,000 social rented homes in 2007-08.
Of the Housing Corporation budget of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 it is estimated that £2.8 billion will be spent on providing social rented homes. Future investment will be subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 on which we have already stated that we intend to make the provision of social rented homes a priority.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions on the Hills report; and if she will make a statement. [145066]
Yvette Cooper: Professor John Hills’ Review “End and Means: The future roles of social housing in England” raised concerns about high levels of worklessness among households living in social housing.
Ministers and officials from Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions have held a number of discussions on this issue. We are working closely together to explore ways in which we can address worklessness and how social housing can act as a platform for social and economic mobility.
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath of 29 March 2007, Official Report, column 1731W, on housing: valuation, whether (a) greenhouses and (b) sheds are classified as outbuildings for the purposes of dwellinghouse code 14. [145483]
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a permanent greenhouse is considered by the Valuation Office Agency when establishing the capital value of a domestic dwelling during a valuation. [145520]
Mr. Woolas: It depends how much it is worth.
Housing: Wycombe
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty properties designated for key workers were recorded in Wycombe constituency in each of the most recent three years for which figures are available. [145454]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 25 June 2007]: The Government offer housing assistance to key workers under the Key Worker Living (KWL) scheme in areas experiencing severe recruitment and retention difficulties. Key Worker Living funding is divided between Open Market HomeBuy (equity loans to purchase properties on the open market) and new build products such as New Build HomeBuy (shared ownership of newly built homes) and intermediate rent (newly built homes where the rent is set at a level between that charged by social and private landlords).
Since April 2006 we no longer fund specific key worker only new build schemes. Instead key workers access our New Build HomeBuy and intermediate rent programmes as a priority group alongside other priorities such as social tenants. Any key worker specific schemes yet to complete will have been funded under old shared ownership programmes.
Since the launch of Key Worker Living, the Housing Corporation has been collecting data on when the construction of a scheme has been completed and when the final unit has been occupied. The purpose of these data is to actively manage the portfolio of new build properties and take action to prevent long term empty units—and as such allows us to give a breakdown of the current position on empty properties only. As at the end of May 2007 there are no empty Key Worker Living properties designated for key workers only in the Wycombe constituency.
iGather
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding her Department and its agencies have provided for the iGather project; and what plans there are to roll it out across England. [141824]
Ruth Kelly: The iGather project was awarded funding of £300,000 in March 2005. The project has developed a prototype to enable ready access to environmental, employment, housing and other data stored electronically to assist planners to carry out sustainability appraisals effectively and efficiently.
The purpose of a sustainability appraisal, mandatory under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, is to promote sustainable development through the integration of social, environmental and economic considerations into the preparation of revisions of regional spatial strategies and for new or revised development plan documents and supplementary planning documents.
Further work is being carried out, which will enable the prototype to be fully operational for the South West region by the end of 2007. No decision has yet been made on its further roll out.
Immigration: EC Enlargement
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will estimate the likely impact on the number of houses in multiple occupation in (a) Peterborough and (b) local authorities in the eastern region of the migration of new EU member state citizens to these areas since 2004; and if she will make a statement. [145306]
Yvette Cooper: The Department recognises the impact of EU migration and, in partnership with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), is currently developing a toolkit of good practice guidance for local authorities on issues such as overcrowding in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
The number of HMOs in local authority areas has been collected by the Department through the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) since 2001. The following table indicates the number of HMOs in Peterborough since 2004.
| Housing strategy statistical data | |
| Number of HMOs in the City of Peterborough | |
The following table indicates the number of HMOs in all local authorities in the eastern region since 2004.
| Housing strategy statistical data | |||
| Local authority area | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| (1) No return. | |||
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