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19 May 2009 : Column 1342W—continued
Margaret Beckett: The cost of a home information pack (HIP) is set by the market and the Government have no role in this.
Homebuy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average income of a tenant purchasing under the Social Homebuy Scheme was in each of the last five years. [276138]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the average household income of tenants who have purchased under the Social HomeBuy scheme in England, by year.
| Average household income | |
| £ | |
| Source: CORE (Continuous Recording) returns from registered social landlords to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA). | |
The Social HomeBuy (SHB) scheme was introduced in April 2006, so there are no Social HomeBuy sales before 2006-07. 2008-09 figures are not yet available from CORE.
The household income figures are calculated from the “monthly take home pay” figures, which are based on net earnings from any paid work. These figures do not include income from benefits such as income support, child benefit, child tax credit, or any payments received from the Child Support Agency (CSA).
Homes and Communities Agency: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of the assets sale receipts of the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies were (a) retained by the body concerned, (b) remitted to her Department and (c) remitted to HM Treasury in each of the last five years. [270573]
Margaret Beckett: The predecessor bodies for the Homes and Communities Agency were English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of departmental programmes also transferred to the agency from Communities and Local Government.
The Homes and Communities Agency has retained all of its receipts generated from the sale of development assets. These receipts have been used to fund the agency’s property and regeneration programme.
The Housing Corporation and the Academy for Sustainable Communities did not dispose of any development assets.
The former English Partnerships consisted of the Commission for New Towns (CNT) and the Urban Regeneration Agency (URA). The URA retained all of its receipts generated from the sale of development assets, for use in funding the agency’s programme. A total of £345 million of receipts from the CNT's sale of land was remitted to HM Treasury in 2008-09 in connection with the close down of the CNT and the launch of the
HCA. It is not possible to disaggregate the proportion of these receipts that relate to the last five years without incurring disproportionate cost.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions her Department has been contacted by the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies about the writing-off of losses in excess of the delegated limits set out in its financial memorandum in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [270577]
Margaret Beckett: The predecessor bodies for the Homes and Communities Agency were English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of departmental programmes also transferred to the Agency from Communities and Local Government.
The Homes and Communities Agency has not written-off any losses in excess of the delegated limits. The write-off of losses in excess of the delegated limit for English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation can be found in their published Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The Academy for Sustainable Communities did not write off any losses in excess of the delegated limits.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2009, Official Report, column 133W, on housing: low incomes, (1) how much has been repaid to the Homes and Communities Agency in grants as a result of investment partners who are not registered social landlords seeking to sell a property outside the affordable housing sector in each of the last three years; [274884]
(2) how many homes (a) in the social sector and (b) owned by investment partners who are not registered social landlords which were initially intended for low cost home ownership have subsequently been removed from the affordable housing sector in each region; [274885]
(3) how many requests the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessors received to sell properties outside the affordable housing sector from investment partners who are not registered social landlords in each of the last three years; and how many requests were granted. [274888]
Margaret Beckett: In the last three years no grant has been repaid to the Homes and Communities Agency as a result of non-registered social landlord investment partners seeking to sell a property outside the affordable housing sector.
In each region no homes owned by investment partners who are not registered social landlords have subsequently been removed from the affordable housing sector.
No requests have been received by the Homes and Communities Agency to sell properties outside of the affordable sector from non-registered social landlord investment partners in the last three years.
Homes and Communities Agency: Location
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what equality impact assessments the Homes and Communities Agency has carried out on its options for relocation; and what consultation with staff and other stakeholders it has held on these options. [273410]
Margaret Beckett: As a public body, the Homes and Community Agency has conducted an equality impact assessment (EIA) screening on the proposals for restructuring and location; a full EIA is in the process of finalisation and will be published in due course. The impact assessment addresses the equality duty areas of race, gender and disability—in addition to considering the equality strands of religion, sexual orientation and age.
In completing the EIA, the HCA has taken account of consultation with staff and best practice knowledge, in order fully to consider the impact of its decisions on equality outcomes. The HCA is in the process of evaluating feedback from its most recent consultation exercise and this information will inform the full EIA which will be published on the HCA website.
Staff and staff representatives were initially consulted on the proposals for changes in Regional office accommodation on 11 February 2009. This period of initial consultation lasted for one month. Firm proposals were then circulated to staff representatives and staff, for consultation, on 1 April 2009. This further period of consultation also lasted one month and during this time, Regional Directors have been holding group and one to one discussions with staff.
The HCA has also, in recent months, had a number of discussions with stakeholder partners about the options for relocation including my Department, Regional Development Agencies and local authorities.
Homes and Communities Agency: Public Relations
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 2 April 2009, Official Report, column 1505W, on the Homes and Communities Agency, which public affairs firms the Tenant Services Authority engaged; what the (a) duration and (b) monetary value of each contract is; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the (i) brief and (ii) contract for each item of work. [273455]
Margaret Beckett: The TSA engaged the public affairs company APCO to provide help in developing the core narrative and key messages of the TSA through work in the political environment and to engage key stakeholders to gain buy in and understanding of, and to test, the aforementioned. The brief was also to campaign with politicians to raise awareness of the TSA.
(a) APCO were initially employed from August 2008 to February 2009. An additional three months' work was then agreed, to a reduced specification.
(b) The fee for the initial project was a retainer of £9,500 per month for a period of seven months between August 2008 and February 2009, totalling £76,000. The additional three-month contract was for time spent up to the value of £1,500 per month.
(i) and (ii) I intend to place a copy of the briefs and contract in the Library once we have obtained agreement from APCO and removed any commercially sensitive information.
Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of the Working Group on Condition Information in the Home Buying and Selling Process has been. [274855]
Margaret Beckett: The cost of establishing and supporting the Working Group on Condition Information in the Home Buying and Selling Process is approximately 25 per cent. of an official's time and has been met as part of the normal working arrangements of the Department from within existing budgets.
Housing: Construction
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been built in each millennium community to date. [274771]
Margaret Beckett: The number of houses which have been built in millennium communities since the programme began in 1997 to date are:
| Millennium community | Completed homes |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been built on surplus public sector land in each of the last five years; and what estimate has been made of the number which will be built on such land in each of the next three years. [274828]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 23 March 2009, Official Report, columns 69-70W. However to clarify, the purpose of the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land is to record sites for disposal that have been identified as surplus, vacant or under-used by Government Departments and their agencies which can be used for redevelopment including housing.
Information on the number of homes built on public sector land since 2004 is not held centrally as the Register does not capture such details. However, the Homes and Communities Agency estimates that since 2004 some 19,000 homes may have been built on sites formerly owned by the public sector. The cost of providing a more accurate figure would be disproportionate. This
estimate will include a proportion of the 59,505 homes built since 1997, referred to in the previous answer of 23 March 2009. I should remind the hon. Member that these figures are likely to under-represent the number of homes built on land formerly owned by Government bodies.
Our latest estimate, as at January 2009, is that about 51,000 homes could be built on public sector sites in the next three years. This will be subject to sites remaining surplus or underused and planning approval being obtained. This forecast is under review and may reduce in the future to reflect the challenging market conditions.
Housing: Empty Property
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of empty dwellings in each London local authority area in each tenure group; and what the percentage change was in the equivalent figures between 2002-03 and 2007-08. [276276]
Mr. Iain Wright: The table shows estimates made of the number of empty dwellings in each London local authority area in each tenure group; and the percentage change in the equivalent figures between 2002-03 and 2007-08.
| Estimates of the number of empty dwellings in each London local authority area in each tenure group; and the percentage change in the equivalent figures between 2002-03 and 2007-08 | ||||||||
| 2008 | ||||||||
| Local authority | Registered social landlords | Private enterprise | Total | |||||
| Number of vacan t s | LA vacants as a percentage of LA stock | Number of vacan t s | LA vacants as a percentage of LA stock | Number of vacan t s | LA vacants as a percentage of LA stock | Number of vacan t s | LA vacants as a percentage of LA stock | |
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