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10 Nov 2008 : Column 857W—continued
Figures cover English domiciled students in the UK, in line with the remit of DIUS. Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training students can receive maintenance grants; therefore figures include such students and are not restricted to undergraduate students. Comparable figures for first year students are not available separately.
HE grant expenditure declines in 2006-07 as—for new entrants—it was replaced by the maintenance grant in that year. The average maintenance grant is larger than the average HE grant because both the maximum grant amount and the income thresholds are more generous. The number of students eligible for the maintenance grant before means-testing will steadily increase from 2006-07 as each new cohort becomes eligible.
The Statistical First Release—Student Support for Higher Education in England, Academic Year 2008-09 (Provisional)—is due to be published by the Student Loans Company in November 2008. This will provide further information on grants, including complete 2007-08 figures and early provisional 2008-09 figures.
In 2009-10, low income entrants will receive £2,906 of maintenance grant and £3,497 of maintenance loan. In real terms, the maintenance grant will be over 20 per cent. higher than in 1997-98 and the maintenance loan over 50 per cent. more generous.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he will reply to Question 220185, on staff, tabled on 15 July. [226919]
Mr. Simon: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 15 October 2008, Official Report, column 1332W.
Communities and Local Government
Community Infrastructure Fund
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budget for the Community Infrastructure Fund for 2008-09 is; and how much her Department has allocated to the Fund in 2008-09. [233329]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 5 November 2008]: The total budget for the Community Infrastructure Fund round 1 was £200 million, to be spent in 2006-08. In 2008-09, a number of the round 1 schemes were given one further year to spend a total allocation of £19.7 million.
The total budget for the Community Infrastructure Fund round 2 is £300 million, to be spent in 2008-11. The amount allocated to this fund in 2008-09 is £17 million.
Council Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the report of the Building Research Establishment’s research into levels of maintenance and management in council housing; and what the reason is for the time taken to publish the report. [234368]
Mr. Iain Wright:
As part of the current Review of Council Housing Finance the Department has commissioned two new pieces of work. The first, ‘An Evaluation of Management and Maintenance costs in
Local Authority Housing’, is being carried out by the Housing Quality Network. The second, ‘Review of the Major Repairs Allowance’, is being carried out by the Building Research Establishment.
Both these items are work in progress and will be published as part of the review process in due course.
Energy Performance Certificates
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many domestic energy performance certificates have been registered on the central database for properties in each rating band; and what the average (a) current and (b) potential energy efficiency rating is for registered properties. [232359]
Mr. Iain Wright: The rating bands for the number of domestic energy performance certificates for existing dwellings, which have been lodged on the central register as at 31 October 2008, are shown in the following table:
| Rating | Number lodged |
The Department does not hold information on the average current and potential energy efficiency rating for registered properties.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the reduced data standard assessment procedure conventions used to produce energy performance certificates take into account each improvement made by householders to the energy efficiency of their home. [233865]
Mr. Iain Wright: Reduced data Standard Assessment Procedure (RdSAP) conventions will be able to take into account improvements made to a property such as the insulation of walls, roofs and floors, improved glazing, heating systems and controls, provisions for domestic hot water (including solar water heating), photovoltaics and wind turbines.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration she has given to extending the period for which a home information pack report is valid. [233430]
Mr. Iain Wright: None. The elements of a home information pack (HIP) have no validity period under the regulations as there is no requirement for sellers to update any document in the HIP as long as the property remains on the market.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government is taking to ensure that search companies comply with home information pack regulations. [234213]
Mr. Iain Wright: Local authority weights and measures authorities and the Office of Fair Trading have been given the responsibility for enforcing the home information pack duties through s.166 and s.175 of the Housing Act 2004. They also have powers under other legislation to investigate allegations of any business malpractice.
Housing Revenue Accounts
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2008, Official Report, columns 452-53W, on housing revenue accounts, if she will revise her forecast for housing subsidy from 2008 to 2023 on the basis of the figures given in the draft Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Determination 2009-10, published on 28 October 2008; and what support her Department plans to provide for historic debt in each year to 2023. [234370]
Mr. Iain Wright: No revised forecasts have been made for the period requested on the basis of the 2009-10 draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy determination. The figures in the table in my answer of 22 October 2008, Official Report, column 353W, were produced as part of the self-financing modelling exercise. We currently have no plans to replicate this exercise.
We make no distinction between current and historic debt, as the subsidy regime supports all housing debt.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of (a) houses owned by local authorities, (b) houses owned by registered social landlords and (c) houses in private ownership on which construction will commence in 2008-09; and on how many such houses construction began in 2007-08. [234284]
Mr. Iain Wright: During 2007-08 there were a total 155,880 new build dwelling starts in England. These were broken down by tenure as follows:
| Tenure | Number of n ew build dwelling starts |
| Note: Communities and Local Government does not hold forecast information on how many dwellings will be started in 2008-09. Information for 2008-09 will be available in May 2009 through the quarterly house building publication. Source: P2 building control returns from local authorities and the National House- Building Council (NHBC) | |
Housing: Derelict Land
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the extent of brownfield sites available for housing development in (a) the London Borough of Hillingdon and (b) Uxbridge constituency. [234160]
Mr. Iain Wright: In 2007, the latest year for which figures are available from the National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land, the London borough of Hillingdon reported having 64 hectares of previously-developed (brown field) land, of which 36 hectares were regarded as suitable for housing.
Data at constituency level are not held centrally.
Housing: Planning Permission
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what matters (a) may and (b) must be taken into account when a planning authority is determining an application to replace a semi-detached house by flats. [234044]
Mr. Iain Wright: When considering a proposal for the type of development referred to, a local planning authority must determine the application for planning permission in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations, for example, national planning policy, indicate otherwise. National planning policy for housing (PPS3) says that the consideration is whether a site is suitable, based on the demand for housing of certain types and the location to community facilities, jobs, services and infrastructure.
Mortgages: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many mortgage applications for the purchase of property in Suffolk were approved in each of the last 24 months. [233505]
Mr. Iain Wright: Data on number of mortgage approvals for house purchase are published by the Bank of England. However, data are only available for the UK as a whole.
National Clearing House Programme
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the (a) locations and (b) sites are of the properties purchased under the National Clearing House Programme; how many (i) dwellings and (ii) units comprised each property; what the average price per unit was of such purchases; what plans she has for the disposal of the property in each case; what advice she received in determining the price of each property; and if she will make a statement; [232758]
(2) how many domestic properties have been purchased under her Department's National Clearing House Programme; and in which local authorities; [232760]
(3) what plans she has to make the National Clearing House available to individual home owners; [232761]
(4) what the average cost of properties for which her Department has provided funding for purchase through the National Clearing House Programme has been since its inception; [232762]
(5) how much stamp duty her Department has paid on properties for which it has provided funding for purchase through the National Clearing House Programme. [232763]
Mr. Iain Wright: In May, the Government announced a plan to take advantage of market opportunities to bring private sector developer stock into the affordable housing sector by providing £200 million of funding through the Housing Corporation's national affordable housing programme (AHP) for the purchase of homes from house builders.
To help facilitate this, the Housing Corporation set up the National Clearing House to streamline initial assessment of national packages of at least 250 units from private sector house builders. Housing Corporation investment partners, mainly registered social landlords, wishing to buy smaller numbers of units from developers could bid for funding directly to the Corporation in the normal way. There are currently no plans to open up the Housing Corporation's AHP to individual home owners.
The average grant and total scheme cost per unit of all developer stock that has been purchased with funding through the AHP since May is set out in the following table. This includes both those schemes that were assessed through the National Clearing House and the smaller schemes that were assessed through the Housing Corporation.
| Product | Units | Average grant per unit (£) | Total average cost per unit (£) |
| Source: Housing Corporation | |||
Developer stock units are purchased by AHP investment partners for the provision of either social rent or for sale on low cost home ownership terms. Funding is a mix of grant from the Housing Corporation and from the investment partners' own resources.
Bids are assessed on four main criteria: fit with local, regional and national strategic priorities, design and quality, deliverability and value for money.
The distribution of units purchased, and the average amount of grant allocated by the Corporation for the purchase, by local authority area is set out in the following table.
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