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8 Oct 2007 : Column 34W—continued
Housing Associations
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the legal status is of housing associations. [154384]
Mr. Iain Wright: The term "housing association" is defined in section 1 of the Housing Associations Act 1985 for the purposes of that Act as:
“A society, body of trustees, or company—
(a) which is established for the purpose of, or amongst whose objects or powers are included those of, providing, constructing, improving or managing, or facilitating or encouraging the construction or improvement of, housing accommodation, and
(b) which does not trade for profit or whose constitution or rules prohibit the issue of capital with interest or dividend exceeding such rate as may be prescribed by the Treasury, whether with or without differentiation as between share and loan capital.”
Housing Corporation: Information Officers
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many press officers are employed by the Housing Corporation. [154423]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Housing Corporation currently employs two press officers.
Housing Green Paper
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hard copies of the 2007 Housing Green Paper were printed and then discarded following the last minute changes to the document. [153813]
Mr. Iain Wright: No copies were printed then discarded.
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's definition is of a zero carbon residential dwelling. [153869]
Mr. Iain Wright: As set out in "Building a Greener Future: Policy Statement", a zero carbon home means that, over a year, the net carbon emissions from all energy use in the home would be zero. This would include energy use from cooking, washing and electronic appliances as well as space heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and hot water.
Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment
(a) her Department and (b) its agencies have made of the effect on construction costs of building a zero-carbon home. [155689]
Mr. Iain Wright: A regulatory impact assessment, which sets out the range of estimated costs associated with the zero carbon homes policy, as set out in Building a Greener Future Policy Statement, was published on 23 July 2007 and is available on the Department's website.
Housing: Construction
Tom Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local
planning authorities in each (a) region and (b) county have approved (i) local development framework core strategies and (ii) housing allocation development plan documents. [152641]
Mr. Iain Wright: 14 local planning authorities have been issued with final inspectors’ reports finding their core strategy development plan documents sound. 12 of these authorities have now proceeded to adoption of their core strategy. These are set out in the following table.
| Region (a) | County (b) | Local Planning Authority | Title(i) | Adopted |
Seven local planning authorities have been issued with final reports finding their area action plans sound. These area action plans have included housing allocations as part of the development plan document. The seven relevant authorities have all proceeded to adoption. These are set out in the following table.
| Region (a) | County (b) | Local Planning Authority | Title (ii) | Adopted |
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the number of house building starts and completions there have been in each of the last four quarters. [155530]
Yvette Cooper: The latest statistics on new house building were published on the 16 August: Communities and Local Government Statistical Release: “House building: April to June Quarter 2007”.
Housing: Databases
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which public sector bodies are entitled to undertake (a) primary disclosures and (b) secondary disclosure of information from (i) the Home Condition Report database and (ii) the Energy Performance Certificate database. [153785]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 May 2006, Official Report, column 1400W, to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles), regarding disclosure of Home Condition Reports.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 161W, to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Gove), regarding disclosure of Energy Performance Certificates.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of (a) home condition reports and (b) energy performance certificates (EPCs) that will be lodged on the respective online registers once (i) home information packs are required for all homes and (ii) EPCs are required for rented and social domestic dwellings. [153796]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 25 June 2005, Official Report, column 160W, given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles). We will be monitoring the take-up on Home Condition Report.
The Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive—Articles 7-10 published on 29 March 2007 details the estimated number of energy performance certificates that will be lodged in the register by sector.|
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the URLs are for the (a) Energy Performance Certificate database and (b) Home Condition Report database. [153914]
Yvette Cooper: The URLs are for the Energy Performance Certificate database and Home Condition Report database are www.epcregister.com and www.hcrregister.com.
Housing: Empty Properties
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty homes in the private and social sectors she plans to bring back into use; and if she will make a statement. [153792]
Yvette Cooper: We are committed to reducing the number of empty homes and in particular the number of homes that are left empty for long periods of time. The Government do not set a national target for the number of empty homes to be brought back into use as this can be affected by local housing market conditions. However, the Housing Green Paper makes it clear that local authorities should do more to tackle empty homes and we are exploring ways to achieve an increase in activity. We consider that all local authorities should have in place comprehensive strategies on how they intend to deal with empty homes. Many local authorities set their own empty homes targets.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on her plans to encourage a greater take-up of empty dwelling management orders. [153793]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Housing Green Paper makes it clear that local authorities should do more to tackle empty homes as part of a wider strategy of increasing housing supply and we are exploring and consulting on ways to achieve this. We consider that all local authorities should have in place strategies on how they intend to deal with empty homes. We expect such strategies to identify and address the different reasons for empty homes.
Enforcement action to bring empty homes back into use should only be considered as a last resort when voluntary measures have proved unsuccessful. We are therefore keen to ensure that local authorities adopt empty dwelling management orders as part of a comprehensive strategy that encompasses a wide range of options.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty homes there were in (a) South Cambridgeshire and (b) East Cambridgeshire in each of the last five years. [153764]
Mr. Iain Wright: Estimates for vacant dwellings in the local authority areas of East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire since 2002 are tabulated. These include vacancies up to six months and long term vacancies over six months. These are as reported by local authorities through the Council Tax Base (CTB1) form and present vacant dwellings receiving some or a full discount on council tax.
| East Cambridgeshire | South Cambridgeshire | |
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