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14 Dec 2009 : Column 905W—continued
Housing: Elderly
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will develop a national strategy for retirement housing. [306271]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government published their strategy for housing in an ageing society 'Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods' in February 2008, which sets out our strategy for all types of housing, including specialised housing for older people, such as retirement housing.
One of the commitments in the 2008 strategy was to commission an innovation panel to look at the future of specialised housing for older people. This panel published
its report 'HAPPI-Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation' last week, and we will be considering how the recommendations in the report can support the ongoing implementation of 'Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods'.
Housing: Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of (a) owner occupiers, (b) social tenants and (c) private tenants spent (i) between zero and three per cent., (ii) from four to six per cent., (iii) from seven to nine per cent. and (iv) 10 per cent. or more of their total household expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels in each of the last three years. [307210]
Mr. Ian Austin: The following table provides estimates of the number and proportion of owner occupiers, social renters and private renters spending the requested proportions of their disposable income on electricity, gas and other fuels in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. These estimates are based on data from the Office for National Statistics Expenditure and Food Survey.
| Household expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels, England, 2005-06 to 2007-08 | |||||||||
| All households | |||||||||
| Owner occupiers | Social renters | Private renters | |||||||
| Proportion of disposable income spent on fuels | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Source: Expenditure and Food Survey. | |||||||||
Housing: Floods
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of households displaced by flooding that have not been able to return to their homes following each incident of flooding in the last three years. [305231]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We do not keep information centrally on all flooding events as most are dealt with at the local level. We did monitor displaced households following the summer 2007 floods. Around 50 per cent. of households displaced by those floods had returned to their homes after six months. Around 80 per cent. had returned within 12 months and around 99 per cent. within 24 months.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assistance his Department provides to homeowners whose homes are flooded but who do not have flood insurance. [305232]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department provides assistance in respect of flooding in exceptional circumstances. Following the summer 2007 floods we made available flood recovery grant of £18.4 million to support the work of the hardest hit local authorities in helping those people in their communities in greatest need, whether insured or not. In addition, in July 2008, £30.6 million was allocated under the Restoration Fund to support their continued efforts to rebuild their communities.
Local authorities had flexibility to decide how best to use these funds based on their own local circumstances.
On 20 November, we announced that a Community Recovery Fund of £1 million would be made available to local authorities affected by the Cumbria flooding. Again this is for local authorities to support those people in their communities in greatest need, whether insured or not, and local authorities will have flexibility in how they can use the fund.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administers social fund crisis loans and community care grants, which provide help for the most vulnerable people with essential needs in an emergency. Crisis loans are intended for people on benefits or low income, and community care grants can only be used to help people on income-related benefits with little or no access to capital or other resources to meet the need.
Social fund crisis loans can be paid to people in work in circumstances such as these, where they are victims of a disaster and in need of immediate help.
Housing: Lighting
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to the requirement for the output of domestic light bulbs to be measured in lumens; and whether the listing of an equivalent luminance in watts in addition to lumens would be permitted. [305934]
Dan Norris: I have been asked to reply.
From September 2010, EU Regulation 244/2009 under the Eco-design for Energy-using Products Directive will require manufacturers to label packaging with the lumen output of a lamp, in addition to the nominal lamp power (in Watts).
The lumen output will be required to be written in a font twice the size of the nominal power.
Housing: Prices
Grant Shapps:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the house
price affordability ratio for households on (a) lower quintile and (b) median earnings was in each local authority area for the most recent quarter available. [305039]
Mr. Ian Austin: Communities and Local Government does not hold household earnings data down to local authority level. Therefore we are unable to derive house price affordability ratios based on household earnings.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average house price was in each local authority area in each year since 1997. [305225]
Mr. Ian Austin: Data showing average (mean and median) house price in each local authority in each year since 2007 are available on our website at:
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the ratio of lower quintile house prices to lower quintile earnings was in each year since 1997. [306413]
Mr. Ian Austin: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 March 2009, Official Report, columns 71-72W, to the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps).
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 305W, on housing: prices, what the average sale price of a home in a rural area was in each region in each year since 1997 in 2009-10 prices. [306909]
Mr. Ian Austin: The average sale price of a home in a rural area in each region at 2008 constant prices in each year since 1997 is presented as follows:
| East | East Midlands | London | North East | North West | South East | South West | West Midlands | Yorkshire and the Humber | |
| Note: Prices have been adjusted for inflation using the Office for National Statistics Retail Price Index. Source: Land Registry. Local authorities that are classed as rural under the Department rural codes have been included and local authorities classed as urban by DEFRA have been filtered out. | |||||||||
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