| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Nov 2007 : Column 883W—continued
Mr. Iain Wright: Current Government planning policy for affordable housing in the South East is set out in Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (2001). This states that affordable housing should be provided to meet locally assessed need, and includes a regional monitoring target of around 40 per cent. of total housing supply.
This guidance will be replaced by the new Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South East, which is due to be completed next year. The current draft, prepared by the South East of England Regional Assembly includes an overall regional target of 35 per cent. affordable housing. The draft has been examined in public by a panel of inspectors and their report is currently with the Secretary of State for consideration. The Government will respond to that report by way of proposed changes to the draft RSS for public consultation.
The targets in the RSS are not intended to be incorporated directly into local planning policies. Government policy requires local authorities to establish local targets, based on an understanding of need, the likely economic viability of land for housing within the area and assessments of the likely levels of finance available for affordable housing.
Planning applications for housing should then be considered against local policy, and affordable housing provision in them is subject to negotiations between local authorities, Registered Social Landlords and private developers.
Housing: Prices
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government according to the English Housing Survey, how many and what percentage of homes in England were worth (a) £800,000 or more and (b) £1,000,000 or more at the most recent date for which figures are available. [165131]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Survey of English Housing does not collect data on the value of homes.
However the Land Registry does publish information on the number of residential house sales over (a) £800,000 and (b) over £1 million. These data are for England and Wales only and are published in their monthly House Price Index report.
(a) In July 2007 there were 1,621 properties sold for over £800,000. This was 1.6 per cent. of the 101,582 transactions for the month.
(b) In July 2007 there were 888 properties sold for over £1,000,000. This was 0.9 per cent. of the 101,582 transactions for the month.
Housing: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) Sunderland City Council and (b) Sunderland Housing Group received for their housing renewal programme in each year since 2001. [164501]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information is as follows:
The amounts shown in the following table came from several sources. In addition, the city council received £5 million spread over the years 2003-04 to 2007-08.
| £ | ||||
| Home renovation grants allocation | HIP (housing investment pot) | Market rejuvenation SHIP (single housing investment pot) allocations | English Partnerships | |
Sunderland Housing Group (now named Gentoo)
The following allocations have been received from the Housing Corporation to support housing renewal in Sunderland.
| Financial year | £ |
Influenza
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings she has had with (a) devolved administrations, (b) regional government and (c) local government representatives to discuss the co-ordination of any response in consequence of a potential pandemic influenza outbreak considered arising from Exercise Winter Willow; and if she will make a statement. [164897]
Mr. Dhanda: The Secretary of State has had no such meetings. However, CLG Ministers are represented on MISC 32, the Cabinet sub-committee for influenza planning, and officials from this Department attend the cross government Flu Working Group led by Department of Health and Cabinet Office.
The Department also sponsors the regional resilience teams, based in the Government Offices for the Regions, who have been working closely with local and regional agencies in their planning work across a range of resilience issues, including pandemic influenza.
Local Area Agreements: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the status is of the local area agreement in Gloucestershire; which bodies are responsible for setting it up; and what stakeholders are represented. [163264]
John Healey: Local area agreements are an important means of improving the delivery of public services at a local level. They are the mechanism by which central government agrees a range of outcomes and targets with local partnerships. The local area agreement for Gloucestershire was developed through wide consultation in the county. It was signed in March 2007 by the chief executive of Gloucestershire county council on behalf of the county's Local Strategic Partnership, which brings together representatives from the public, private and third sectors. The Local Strategic Partnership has put in place governance structures and performance management arrangements to ensure that the targets in the agreement are achieved. The full text of the agreement can be found at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/laa. It contains a full list of the outcomes and targets agreed as well as of the signatories to the agreement.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda) expects to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Wycombe of 11 October 2007 on placing bids made by local authorities for monies paid from the Preventing Extremism Pathfinder Fund in the Library. [165245]
Mr. Dhanda: I have now sent the hon. Member a reply.
Mortgages: Income
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of houses mortgaged in each of the last 10 years where the ratio of house price to earnings was (a) more than 6:1, (b) more than 8:1 and (c) more than 10:1. [164680]
Mr. Iain Wright: This information is not collected by Communities and Local Government. However, for the UK, we have made the following estimates based on data from the Regulated Mortgage Survey and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
| Number of mortgages by price to income ratio, UK | |||||
| House price to income ratio | |||||
| Less than or equal to 6 | Greater than 6 but no more than 8 | Greater than 8 but no more than 10 | Greater than 10 | Total | |
| Source: Regulated Mortgage Survey and Council of Mortgage Lenders. | |||||
Oxfordshire
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions the Regional Minister for the South East has visited Oxfordshire in the last six months; and what the (a) date and (b) purpose was of each visit. [166298]
Mr. Dhanda: The Minister has not visited Oxfordshire since assuming his post as Minister for the South East.
Planning: Special Protection Areas
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received about the application of the rule restricting residential development within 400 metres of a special protection area; and if she will make a statement. [165348]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Dorset Heaths are a vital part of the natural environment of South East Dorset contributing to the area’s special qualities. A substantial part of the Dorset Heaths form part of the European Network of Habitat 2,000 sites which reflects both their importance in terms of nature conservation and the degree of protection therefore afforded to them. The boroughs of Poole, Bournemouth, and Christchurch, together with East Dorset and Purbeck district councils have agreed to develop a long-term strategy for the protection of designated heathlands through the production of a joint Development Plan Document. This allows for more detailed consideration of mechanisms and measures to ensure the appropriate and necessary mitigation of residential development proposed to 2026.
The document has reached Issues and Options stage and has been the subject of a consultation from 17 September to 29 October 2007. The Preferred Options public consultation is programmed for February 2008, a public examination of the submission document is scheduled for May/June 2009 and Adoption anticipated in December 2009.
The Department has received representations from the hon. Member for North Dorset (Mr. Walter) (on behalf of a constituent), Councillor Alan Griffiths (leader of Christchurch borough council), Councillor
Dr. Brian Leverett (leader of Poole borough council) and the managing director of Malbury Properties Ltd. in Poole.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |