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3 Sep 2007 : Column 1662W—continued
Looking to the future, on 12 July 2007 the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced a review to look at how the recent floods were managed and responded to by the Environment Agency, local authorities, the emergency services and others. One of the specific objectives of the review will be
“to ensure the public has as much access as possible to information on the risk of flooding to allow them to take appropriate precautions, be adequately informed on developments as an emergency unfolds, and be looked after properly in the immediate aftermath.”
We would expect that proposals on guidance plans for householders in the event of flooding will be considered as part of the review. We aim to publish the initial findings of the review by the end of the year and subsequently a formal Government report.
Housing: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many homes have been built for key workers in London under the (a) intermediate rent, (b) homebuy new build and (c) mixed funded for sale programmes; how many have been (i) sold and (ii) let under each programme; and what the (A) average and (B) longest time has been that a home in each programme has remained empty; [122392]
(2) what percentage of homes built for key workers in London have been sold to key workers in each year since the inception of key worker homes. [122428]
Yvette Cooper: 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).
The number of newly built homes only available for, and sold or let to, key workers in London since the
launch of KWL in 2004 is provided in the following table. We do not have the figures requested on an annual basis.
The table shows that, of the units that had not been sold or let, 58 were under offer from key workers, 608 had been marketed to key workers for less than three months and 170 had been marketed to key workers for between three and six months. It normally takes between three and six months to market and sell a unit. So to date, 67 per cent. of new build homes only available to key workers under Key Worker Living have been sold or let to key workers.
| Key Worker Living in London 2004-05 lo 2006-07 | |||||
| Programme | Available for KWs only | Marketed for three months or less | Marketed for between three to six months | Under o ffer | Sold/Let to key workers |
| Source: Housing Corporation | |||||
Since the introduction of the New Build HomeBuy product in April 2006, we no longer fund specific key worker only schemes. Instead key workers access our New Build HomeBuy programme 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.
In addition to the numbers in the table above, we have helped 4,982 key workers in London through our KWL Open Market HomeBuy scheme and 4,168 key workers in London through the Starter Home Initiative (SHI). SHI was the predecessor to KWL and ran from 2001-2004. The majority of SHI completions were as Open Market HomeBuy, with a small number of newly built units that were grant funded via an equity loan for the purchaser.
Since the launch of KWL 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 this data is to actively manage the portfolio of new build properties and take action to prevent long term voids—it does not permit us to produce an average of the time it takes from completion of construction to occupation of individual units.
Responsibility for marketing and sale of the units lies with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Homebuy Agents. The longest period of time that a unit built exclusively for key workers on our intermediate rent and shared ownership schemes has been unoccupied is 12 months and 20 months respectively. The former property remained unoccupied for this amount of time due to delays as a result of prospective tenants dropping out which meant that the property had to be remarketed. The latter property remained unoccupied as a result of legal issues, which were only recently resolved. These were exceptional circumstances and the Department has made clear to RSLs operating the scheme that speedy action needs to be taken when legal or other problems arise.
At present there are no properties available exclusively for key workers that have been unsold for more than six months.
Housing: Hampshire
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council owned houses have been built for rent in each (a) district and (b) unitary council area in Hampshire since 1997. [147871]
Yvette Cooper: There have been no reported local authority dwellings built in Hampshire local authorities and unitary authorities since 1997.
Between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 2006, the following units of affordable housing (social rent and intermediate (e.g. low cost home ownership)) were built or acquired by Registered Social Landlords on behalf of Hampshire local authorities and the unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton.
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| Source: Statistical returns from local authorities, Housing Corporation | |||||||||
Housing: Infrastructure
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements for (a) road, (b) water drainage and (c) sewerage infrastructure apply in respect of planning applications for new housing developments. [152877]
Yvette Cooper: General requirements on these matters are set out in planning policy documents issued by Government and by individual local planning authorities. Planning authorities should, in working out where within their areas development should go, discuss with infrastructure providers what standards are needed. This should mean that when plans are adopted they are fully deliverable not only in terms of housing development but also in terms of the supporting infrastructure.
For particular developments the requirements are likely to be arrived at by a process of negotiation, taking account of the particular circumstances. A prospective developer may find it helpful to have pre-application discussions with the local planning authority and to consult the relevant statutory undertakers.
Housing: Inspections
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will name each of the accreditation bodies for (a) home inspectors and (b) domestic energy inspectors. [152389]
Yvette Cooper: To date three Home Inspectors Certification schemes have been approved, along with nine domestic energy accreditation schemes.
Home Inspectors Certification Schemes; BRE: RICS and SAVA.
Domestic Energy Accreditation Schemes: BRE; EPC Direct; EPC Ltd; Elmhurst; HIeu Ltd; Northgate; Quidos; NES; RICS.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what legal advice her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) received on home information packs and liability for compensation for home inspectors and energy inspectors. [152422]
Yvette Cooper: The Department does not disclose any legal advice or whether or not it has sought or obtained it due to the fact that it is subject to legal professional privilege.
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