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26 Mar 2009 : Column 718W—continued
Housing Associations
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many long-term empty domestic properties have been taken over by housing associations in England since 2000. [266906]
Mr. Iain Wright: This information is not held centrally.
Housing Associations: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment her Department has made of the borrowing conditions experienced by housing associations. [266492]
Mr. Iain Wright: In January 2009, the Tenant Services Authority carried out a quarterly survey of housing associations to understand their exposure to the finance and housing markets. The TSA found that the housing association sector overall is demonstrating resilience and can help meet the unprecedented demand for affordable homes for rent.
The full document is available at:
In summary the position in relation to private finance is:
The sector continues to enjoy good access to finance with £5.0 billion of the £5.3 billion debt needed over the next 12 months already in place
In total the sector has undrawn facilities of £14.6 billion and reports that it has sufficient security in place to enable access to this debt
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate she has made of the level of borrowing by housing associations in order to finance the building of new homes. [266499]
Mr. Iain Wright: The most recent information we have regarding association borrowing is from the Tenant Services Authority's January survey of housing associations. In total, the sector has facilities of £51.6 billion arranged and with drawn debt of £37.0 billion. The sector estimates that it needs £5.3 billion of debt to meet its commitments over the next 12 months including the delivery of new development. £5 billion of this debt is already arranged.
A copy of the TSA survey of housing associations can be found on their website at:
Housing Market
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers, (c) full-time equivalent departmental staff and (d) others were responsible for her Department's Objective 4 to deliver a better balance between housing supply and demand in each of the last five years. [265077]
Mr. Iain Wright: The average number of staff employed by my Department in delivering objective 4 was as follows.
| Permanent staff | Ministers | Special advisers | Others | Total | |
| (1) As objective was created during SR04 spending review there are no breakdown figures for 2003-04 | |||||
Housing: Construction
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate she has made of the number of new domestic properties which will be (a) started and (b) completed in each of the next three years; and what proportion she expects to be affordable homes. [265323]
Mr. Iain Wright: Estimates have not been made by the Government of the number of new domestic properties which will be started and completed in each of the next three years, or on what proportion is expected to be affordable homes. The proportion of affordable homes in an area is a matter for local authorities, taking into account local affordability pressures.
Our aim is to provide 70,000 affordable homes, of which 45,000 would be for social rent in each year at the end of this spending review period (2010-11).
To help increase the supply of housing we have provided £8.4 billion to the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Programme for the period 2008-11.
The Government recognise that the current financial and economic conditions will make the achievement of new supply extremely challenging, but we are committed to doing all we can to meet long-term demand and need for housing.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were (a) started and (b) completed by (i) local authorities, (ii) housing associations and (iii) private builders in each year since 1997. [266483]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the number of annual, permanent dwelling, house building starts and completions by tenure, in England from 1997-98 to 2007-08.
| Annual, permanent dwelling, house building starts and completions by tenure, in England from 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||||||
| Starts | Completions | |||||
| Private enterprise | Registered social landlords | Local authorities | Private enterprise | Registered social landlords | Local authorities | |
| Source: RSL completions: Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS). All others new build starts and completions: P2 quarterly returns submitted by local authorities and the National House-Building Council (NHBC) to CLG | ||||||
Housing: Finance
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish the outcomes of her Department’s review of finance for housing. [267145]
Mr. Iain Wright: The evidence gathering phase of the review is now complete and proposals for a new or improved system are being developed. The review will report to Ministers in the spring. We have said that we will hold a formal consultation once the review has concluded.
Housing: Low Incomes
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has allocated for affordable housing by (a) region and (ii) London borough in the next three years. [266655]
Mr. Iain Wright: In England, over the three years 2008-11, we are investing over £8 billion in affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The following allocations to the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) reflect regional assemblies recommendations and funding brought forward from 2010-11. These figures are indicative only to allow flexibility within the AHP to deliver the overall programme.
| Indicative regional allocations of Affordable Housing Programme | ||
| Region | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Future levels of funds available for affordable housing beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the next spending review.
Indicative allocations are not made to local authority level.
Housing: Prices
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects of the publication of local
crime maps on trends in (a) house prices and (b) home insurance premiums. [267154]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and local government have made no assessment of the impact of the publication of crime maps on (a) house prices and (b) home insurance premiums.
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