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7 Feb 2008 : Column 1307W—continued
(4) The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3340).
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many non-geographic telephone numbers are in use by her Department and its agencies; and what revenue their use generated in each year for which figures are available. [180715]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government and its agencies has one non-geographical telephone number to provide information to homeowners in relation to Energy Performance Certificates (0845 365 2468). A third party manages this service on behalf of the Department. The Department does not derive any revenue from this service.
Empty Property: Expenditure
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on empty houses by market renewal programmes in 2007. [184764]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Empty Property: Prisoners
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether empty dwellings management orders can be made in respect of properties the owner of which is serving a custodial sentence; and what guidance her Department has given to local authorities on the issue. [185301]
Mr. Iain Wright: The circumstances in which a property is excluded from the power to make an Empty Dwelling Management Order are set out in the relevant legislation, namely sections 132-134 and Schedule 6 of the Housing Act 2004.
There is no specific exception contained within the legislation relating to circumstances where the owner of a dwelling is serving a prison sentence. The matter would therefore be at the discretion of the local authority which would have regard to all the other relevant exceptions that might be applicable.
Energy: Consumption
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the average consumption of (a) mains gas and (b) electricity from the national grid by an average sized home built to (i) minimum building regulation standards, (ii) Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, (iii) Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and (iv) Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes in the most recent year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [184237]
Mr. Iain Wright: The standards for the energy performance of homes in the Code for Sustainable Homes are specified in terms of emissions. The relevant emissions rates are expressed as improvements against the standards set in the Building Regulations Approved Document L (2006) and measured using the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).
In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, carbon dioxide emissions from the household sector were 148.5 million tonnes. The target emission rate for an average home meeting the standards in Part L of the Building Regulations 2006 is 0.553 tonnes of carbon per annum. For an average home (broadly defined as a semi-detached house with a gas-fired central heating boiler and a floor area of 88.8 metres squared) this equates to approximately 8300 kWh of gas and 983 kWh of electricity.
To meet Code level 3, a house will have to be designed and built to achieve a 25 per cent. improvement on this rate. To meet Code Level 4, a house will have to be designed and built to achieve a 44 per cent. improvement on the 2006 Part L target emission rate.
Green Belt
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans her Government have to review Green Belt protection. [176498]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government's policies for the protection of Green Belt are set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2. There are no plans to review those policies.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to set a date for the implementation of home information packs on one and two bedroom properties; whether energy performance certificates (EPCs) will be required for (a) commercial and (b) one and two bedroom domestic properties; when EPCs will be introduced; whether home condition reports will be mandatory; whether training grants will be available to inspectors to assist with ongoing training costs; and if she will make a statement. [163104]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 12 November 2007]: Home information packs were extended to the remainder of the market on 14 December 2007.
EPCs are being introduced for the sale, rent or construction of non-domestic buildings over 10,000 m(2) from April 2008; over 2,500 m(2) from July 2008; and for the remainder from October 2008. EPCs for the marketed sales of dwellings have been introduced as part of the Home Information Pack; they will be introduced on construction of new dwellings from April 2008 and on new rentals of dwellings from October 2008.
We have always said that the Home Condition Report is a valuable element of the pack. We are adopting a market-led rather than mandatory roll-out of HCRs. The HCR is one of a number of options being considered with stakeholders as part of our work on the wider reform of home buying and selling.
Training for energy assessors is provided by the market, and it is for assessors to choose the package which best suits their plans.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee's Fifth Report of 11 December 2007 on the Home Information Pack (Amendment) Regulations 2007 and the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2007 and the submissions in Appendix I, for what reason her Department has not published the research and data by MORI into home information packs. [180162]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 21 January 2008, Official Report, columns 1526-527W.
Ipsos-MORI is still in the process of finalising its conclusions and a copy of the research report will be placed in the House Library once the project has been finalised.
Home Information Packs: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on home information packs from the public purse to date, broken down by main budget heading; and what is the budget for the remainder of financial year 2007-08. [176323]
Caroline Flint: An update was given to the hon. Member on 22 January 2008, Official Report, column 1801W. Since then, HIPs expenditure has been as follows:
| HIP programme spend (£) | |
Home Information Packs: Pilot Schemes
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what interim information her Department has received from Ipsos-MORI on the home information pack trials. [183243]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 21 January 2008, Official Report, columns 1526-527W.
Ipsos-MORI is still in the process of finalising its conclusions and a copy of the research report will be placed in the House Library once the project has been finalised.
Housing Market: Expenditure
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the market renewal programme has spent in total on each unit constructed for the period for which figures have most recently been collected. [184725]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Housing Market: Regional Planning and Development
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she plans to issue to stakeholders on the account to be taken of market renewal programmes in developing regional spatial strategies; and if she will make a statement. [184651]
Mr. Iain Wright: Housing Market Renewal Partnerships, like all initiatives which have a spatial expression, inform the drafting and revision of regional spatial strategies (RSSs). PPS11 ‘Regional Spatial Planning’ is the Government guidance which sets out how RSSs are produced. The existence of a Housing Market Renewal Partnership in a region will inform the evidence base which in turn informs the drafting and revision of an RSS. This can then be tested at the Examination in Public of selected matters arising from representations on the draft RSS.
Housing: Low Incomes
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local planning authorities are (a) expected and (b) obliged to levy affordable housing contributions on all applications that are classified as a sui generis use in the context of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes Order) 1987. [185047]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 6 February 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 January 2008, Official Report, column 120W.
Housing: Standards
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 142W, on housing: standards, what regional house building targets were set out for each Government office region per year since 1997-98 in each Regional Planning Guidance document that was in force prior to the publication of the Sustainable Communities Plan in 2003. [180196]
Mr. Iain Wright:
Regional planning guidance documents were in force until September 2004, after which they were translated into regional spatial strategies. These
are currently being reviewed. The indicative additional housing units set out in RPGs over their life-time was as follows:
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