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14 Oct 2008 : Column 1088W—continued
Council Housing: Immigrants
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate she has made of the number of (a) non-UK EU
national-headed households and (b) A8 national-headed households in social housing in (i) the most recent period for which figures are available and (ii) each year since such figures became available; and what proportion this represented of housing stock in each year; [226933]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of foreign national-headed households in social housing in (a) the most recent period for which figures are available and (b) each year since such figures became available; and what proportion this represented of housing stock in each year; [226934]
(3) how many foreign nationals obtained a tenancy without holding an existing social housing tenancy in the most recent year for which figures are available; [226935]
(4) how many new (a) local authority social lettings and (b) registered social landlord lettings were made to foreign nationals from (i) EU member states and (ii) non-EU states in the most recent year for which figures are available. [226936]
Mr. Iain Wright: The latest results from the Survey of English Housing, based on the period 2005-06 to 2006-07, are that there were an estimated 310,000 social tenants in England who were foreign nationals—8 per cent. of all social tenants. This question on nationality was introduced for the first time in 2005-06.
The Survey of English Housing doesn't identify the nationalities of householders to a level that can identify non-UK EU nationals or A8 nationals. However, results from the new English Housing Survey that started in April 2008 (replacing the Survey of English Housing) will capture more detailed information about the nationality of householders.
Information on the number of foreign national households allocated social housing is collected in the Continuous Recording of Letting form (CORE). For this information, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 16 May 2008, Official Report, column 1798W.
Council Housing: Sales
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority-owned homes were sold on the private market in each of the last 10 years, broken down by size of dwelling. [226567]
Mr. Iain Wright: This information is not collected centrally.
Council Tax
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to make a decision on whether to introduce legislation to allow council tax payments to be taken from bank accounts. [225565]
John Healey: It is already legal for billing authorities to deduct council tax payments from bank accounts by direct debit with the consent of the account holder.
County Councils: Marketing
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on how much each (a) county council and (b) borough council spends on communication and marketing. [224624]
John Healey: This information is not collected centrally and we have no plans to do so.
Departmental Marketing
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of her Department. [226518]
Mr. Khan: My Department’s advertising campaigns are routinely assessed for cost effectiveness and the results for the financial year 2007-08 were published in the Department’s annual report. The Department’s recruitment advertising is assessed by the quality, appropriateness and number of applicants applying for publicly advertised posts.
Derelict Land
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans English Partnerships has to develop former coalfield sites in the next two years. [224582]
Mr. Iain Wright: English Partnerships is responsible for the management of the national coalfields programme (NCP) working with the regional development agencies and local authority partners. The NCP aims to remediate and bring back into use 107 former coalfield sites.
The NCP is a key contributor to English Partnerships' overall output targets and its ambition to deliver lasting outcomes and improvements in the former coalfield communities. The programme therefore remains a priority for English Partnerships with the momentum and integrity of the programme continuing as English Partnerships moves into the new Homes and Communities Agency from 1 December.
The National Coalfields Programme is ringfenced, with capital receipts being recycled into future projects. The level of activity over the next two years will therefore be influenced to some extent by the level of receipts returning to the programme and market conditions are currently challenging. Even so, the programme remains on track to substantially complete all significant investments in strategically important sites delivering housing, employment and clear community benefits by 2012, with a longer timescale for sites with potential for public open space. Up to £432 million of investment is forecast to be delivered during the remaining lifetime of the programme.
Empty Property
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of empty homes in each region, broken down by (a) size and (b) type of dwelling. [226462]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information on empty dwellings by size and type of dwelling is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of long term empty dwellings and total empty dwellings in each region as at October 2007.
| Region | Number of long term empty dwellings (empty for more than six months) | Total number of empty dwellings |
| Source: Council Taxbase and Council Taxbase Supplementary (CTBl and CTBIS) returns from local authorities | ||
Those dwellings vacant for less than six months are more likely to be empty for a short period following a sale and are seen as ‘transactional’ vacant dwellings and are thus a characteristic of the housing market.
Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effects of changes in empty property business rates on the property market. [226340]
John Healey: We published an impact assessment of the empty property reforms in May 2007 alongside the primary legislation. On 26 February this year, I laid a further assessment before the House, alongside the regulations.
Housing: Construction
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made against the Government's target to build three million homes by 2020; and what proportion of those three million homes she expects to be built in the next two years. [225450]
Mr. Iain Wright: In 2006-07 199,200 additional homes were delivered.
The Government do not publish forecasts for private house building. Housing starts in 2007-08 were 10 per cent. lower than in 2006-07 and this is likely to be reflected in lower levels of housing completions during 2008-09.
Housing: Low Incomes
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely effects of current trends in the housing market on the delivery of Government targets on affordable housing. [226271]
Mr. Iain Wright: We remain committed to the long-term delivery of affordable housing. It remains too early, given current market conditions to predict outputs in the short terms.
We recently announced on 2 September 2008, our market rescue package to increase confidence, stability and fairness in the housing market, building on previous announcements in May and July. As part of this package we will be supporting up to 6,000 of the most vulnerable homeowners facing repossession to remain in their home; offering up to 10,000 first-time buyers currently frozen out of the mortgage market a chance to get onto the property ladder through new shared equity schemes; and bringing forward £400 million to deliver up to 5,500 new social homes over the next 18 months.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the provision of affordable housing in rural areas. [226272]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Housing Corporation has been set a national target to provide 10,300 affordable homes in smaller rural communities from 2008-09 to 2010-11. Grant will be allocated to those schemes which meet the needs of local people, the regional strategy and demonstrate strong value for money from the £8.4 billion National Affordable Housing Programme.
The Prime Minister commissioned a report from the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) who has been looking at how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing in rural communities. His report, published in July, provides a comprehensive review of the issues that our rural communities face, and provides a number of practical recommendations. We are looking at the report in detail and will publish a full response later this year.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent estimate is of (a) the cost of providing a social rented unit and (b) the average public subsidy in the form of grant for such a unit in the most recent period for which figures are available. [226932]
Mr. Iain Wright: Through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme for 2007-08 the average total scheme cost was £150,200 for a social rented unit which includes the cost of purchasing land, building materials etc. The average public subsidy was £65,500 for social rented units of which £59,700 was social housing grant.
Housing: Overcrowding
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of households living in overcrowded conditions in each region in each of the last 10 years. [226461]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table contains estimates of the numbers of overcrowded households in each region from 1997-98 to 2006-07. Levels of overcrowding are measured through the Survey of English Housing and assessed against the “bedroom standard”. Due to small sample sizes, a three year moving average is used.
| Overcrowded households by region, 1997-98 to 2006-07, three year moving average | ||||||||||
| Thousands of households | ||||||||||
| Government office region | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Note: A three year moving average is used due to small sample sizes. For example, the figure shown for ‘1997-98’ is the average over the three survey years ‘1995-96’, ‘1996-97’ and ‘1997-98’. Source: Survey of English Housing | ||||||||||
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