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10 Dec 2007 : Column 139W—continued
Homelessness
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of people in England who were (a) squatting, (b) facing eviction, (c) in temporary accommodation, (d) living in severe overcrowding and (e) staying with friends or family because they have no accommodation at the latest date for which figures are available. [165786]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is as follows.
Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level, in respect of households rather than people. Information reported each quarter by local authorities about their activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households accepted by local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty. The duty owed to an accepted household is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. This data is published in our quarterly statistical release on Statutory Homelessness, available on our website and placed in the Library each quarter. The latest release was published on 10 September 2007 and contains data for the period April to June 2007:
The latest figures show that there were 84,900 households in temporary accommodation in England on 30 June 2007. This is down from 101,000 in December 2004.
Over the period 2003-04 to 2005-06 it is estimated, from Survey of English Housing figures, that there were 47,000 households in England living in severely overcrowded conditions.
The benchmark for assessing whether or not a household is overcrowded or severely overcrowded is the Bedroom Standard. This is determined for each household in accordance with its age/sex/marital status composition and the relationship of the members to one another. A separate bedroom is required:
for each married or cohabiting couple;
for any other person aged 21 or over;
for each pair of adolescents aged 10-20 of the same sex;
for each pair of children under 10.
Further, any unpaired person aged 10-20 is paired, if possible with a child under 10 of the same sex, or, if that is not possible, he or she is counted as requiring a separate bedroom, as is any unpaired child under 10.
This standard is then compared with the actual number of bedrooms (including bed-sitters) available for the sole use of the household. Bedrooms converted to other uses are not counted as available unless they have been denoted as bedrooms by the residents. Bedrooms not actually in use are counted unless uninhabitable.
If a household has fewer bedrooms than implied by the standard then it is deemed to be ‘overcrowded’. Since one bedroom will be sufficient for single person households and for married/cohabiting couples, these households cannot be overcrowded according to the bedroom standard. If a household has two or more bedrooms fewer than implied by the standard then it is deemed to be ‘severely overcrowded’.
The Government are committed to addressing overcrowding and to updating the standards. We have already announced our intention to increase the numbers of affordable housing, including family sized social properties, to help to support a reduction in overcrowding.
Data from the Ministry of Justice indicate that in the year to 30 September 2007, there were 61,532 outright landlord orders. This figure should not be taken as an indication of how many households have been repossessed through the courts, since not all orders result in actual eviction.
No reliable information on the number of squatters, or people staying with family or friends because they have no accommodation, is collected centrally.
Housing
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of new residential dwellings built on previously developed land in the last 12 months; and what proportion of new residential dwellings were built on previously developed land in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006 in (i) England and (ii) each Government Office Region. [171715]
Mr. Iain Wright:
In 2006, on a provisional estimate, 74 per cent. of all new dwellings were built on previously developed (“brownfield”) land, compared to 77 per cent. in 2005. The figures for each region and
both years, including and excluding conversions of buildings into dwellings, can be seen in the following table.
Due to the way the data are collected, all statistics are subject to revision, and the 2006 statistics are marked as provisional because they are more susceptible to change. There is an inevitable time-lag between land use change occurring and it being recorded causing these revisions.
The statistics are the best estimates available; however the Department is constantly researching the figures to ensure they are as robust as possible.
No assessment has yet been made of this reduction. The target for development on previously developed land remains 60 per cent. and this is being achieved.
| New dwellings built on previously-developed land | ||||
| Excluding conversions | Including conversions | |||
| 2005 | 2006( 1) | 2005 | 2006( 1) | |
| (1 )Provisional Notes: 1. There is an inevitable time-lag between land use change occurring and it being recorded, therefore data are constantly being updated. 2. The data in the table are based on records received from Ordnance Survey up to June 2007, published in October 2007 in Land Use Change in England to 2006: Additional Tables LUCS-22A. | ||||
Housing Market Pathfinder Programme
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department will respond to the most recent National Audit Office report on the Housing Market Pathfinder programme. [171503]
Yvette Cooper: The National Audit Office report has now been considered by the Public Accounts Committee, which will report in due course. The Government will then respond to its recommendations.
Housing: Public Participation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of each of the responses from external organisations and individuals to the recent Housing Green Paper. [171509]
Yvette Cooper: As we indicated in the recent Housing Green Paper, my Department will publish a summary of responses to the consultation on the Green Paper in early 2008.
Housing: Sales
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what projections she has made of the number of properties with two or more bedrooms to be made available to buy through (a) Social HomeBuy, (b) New Build HomeBuy, (c) Open Market HomeBuy and (d) the First Time Buyers Initiative in each of the next three financial years; [170355]
(2) what projections she has made of the number of homes to be made available to buy through (a) Social HomeBuy, (b) New Build HomeBuy, (c) Open Market HomeBuy and (d) the First Time Buyers Initiative in each of the next three financial years. [170356]
Yvette Cooper: As stated in our Housing Green Paper, we are aiming to provide at least 25,000 shared ownership and shared equity homes in each of the next three years.
Funding for housing is distributed between the Regions on the basis of an analysis of relative need which takes account of local authority need. Announcements as to the levels of funding to be made available for affordable housing for the next three years will be made shortly.
The funding is being made available to bids from both housing associations, developers and local authorities through the Housing Corporation’s bidding round for the National Affordable Housing Programme. Investment in 2008-11 and completions and size of units will depend on the bids received by the Housing Corporation.
Housing: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government's targets for new house-building in England were in each year since 1997-98. [171568]
Mr. Iain Wright: Detailed housing targets are not directly set by Government, but are set out in regional and local plans which are developed through regional and local planning processes. The Government set the overall strategy for housing supply in England. The 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan set out a target to increase housing supply from 900,000 to 1.1 million in the RPG9 area (the wider South East) over the course of the plan, and the Government's 2005 response to the Barker review of Housing Supply announced an ambition to increase housing supply in England from 150,000 to 200,000 per annum by 2016.
The Housing Green Paper, "Homes for the Future: more affordable, more sustainable" (CM 7191), published in July, set out a target to increase housing supply to 240,000 additional homes per annum by 2016.
Institute for Public Policy Research: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding has (a) her Department and (b) its agencies provided to (a) the IPPR and (b) IPPR Ltd. in relation to community cohesion in the last 24 months; and for what projects. [171612]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government has not commissioned work from IPPR on cohesion in the last 24 months. However, the Commission on Integration and Cohesion did. This was a thinkpiece about challenging attitudes, perceptions and myths, which informed their work and was published on their website. The Commission was funded by Communities and Local Government.
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the levy on
authorities in (a) Essex, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) Greater London by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority was (i) in cash terms and (ii) expressed as the average addition to a Band D council tax bill in each year since 1997-98. [171621]
John Healey: Details of the levy raised by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority on authorities in Essex, Hertfordshire and Greater London, both in cash terms and expressed as the average addition to a Band D council tax bill in each year since 1997-98, are shown in the following tables. These data have been provided by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
| £ | ||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | |
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