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6 Feb 2008 : Column 1175W—continued
Empty Property
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average long-term rate of vacant dwellings was in each region in England in the latest period for which figures are available. [184394]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The long-term vacancy rate for each region in England is tabulated as follows. The
rates are for those long-term vacant dwellings that have been empty for more than six months. Figures are measured at a snapshot date of 9 October 2006.
| Long term empty (greater than six months) as a proportion of total stock | |
| Percentage | |
| Source: Council Tax Base (CTB1) returns | |
Floods
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 898W, on floods, if she will place in the Library a copy of the latest regional flood risk appraisal for each government office region. [182889]
Mr. Iain Wright: Regional flood risk appraisals are prepared by regional planning bodies. It is more appropriate that copies of them are available for inspection at their offices, closer to where those most interested live, rather than being placed in the Library. Regional flood risk appraisals should be available on each Government office website.
Government Offices for the Regions: Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the administrative costs of the Government offices for the regions were in England in (a) 1996-97 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available. [183250]
John Healey: The administrative costs of each Government office for the two years in question are as follows:
| Amount (£000) | ||
| Government office | 1996-1997 | 2006-2007 |
| (1) North-west and Merseyside were separate regions until 1998, though the combined figures are shown under north-west for 1996-97. | ||
Housing
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average projected lifespan is of a new domestic dwelling in England; and if she will make a statement. [184239]
Mr. Iain Wright: We do not make any assumptions for the purpose of policy-making on the average projected lifespan of a new domestic dwelling in England.
Predicting the lifespan of a new building is not an exact science and many factors need to be considered. The actual lifespan of a new domestic dwelling will be influenced by customer specifications, its location, the conditions of use and maintenance levels.
Housing Starts
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what targets her Department has set for the number of (a) privately developed, (b) social rented and (c) other affordable homes to be built in each region of England in each of the next 10 years; what her latest estimate is of the number likely to be built in each case; and if she will make a statement. [184238]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The Housing Green Paper published in July 2007 detailed our proposals to tackle housing affordability and set a target to increase housing supply to 240,000 additional homes a year by
2016, delivering approximately 2 million new homes by 2016 and 3 million new homes by 2020. The detail of where additional housing will be located is a matter for regional and local planning processes and functions.
We also announced an increase of new affordable housing to at least 70,000 per annum by 2010-11. Of these 45,000 homes will be for social rent, with a goal to go further to 50,000 new homes for social rent in the next spending review period. We will also be providing 25,000 homes for low cost home ownership each year. The majority of these new homes will be provided with funding from the Housing Corporation and the Homes and Communities Agency once it is established. We are considering their draft programme for 2008-11 and allocations will be announced shortly. The number of new affordable homes to be provided from 2011-12 will be the subject of further spending reviews.
Housing: South West Region
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2008, Official Report, column 2330W, on Housing: South West region, what estimate she has made of the increase in dwellings in each local authority area under the Independent Panel’s proposals, expressed as a percentage of the current housing stock in that area. [183499][ [Official Report, 26 February 2008, Vol. 472, c. 13MC.]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 31 January 2008]: The following table sets out the information requested.
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