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16 Dec 2009 : Column 1283W—continued
Housing: Energy
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average (a) current energy efficiency rating band and (b) potential energy efficiency rating band is for homes in each local authority area. [307115]
Mr. Ian Austin: The information requested is not currently available centrally to respond to the question in the format requested.
Housing: Finance
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much of the £50 million of social housing grant to allow local authorities to deliver new social housing announced in April has been spent in each region; [307006]
(2) how much of the £400 million of funding through Kickstart announced in April 2009 has been spent in each region; [307007]
(3) how much of the £250 million to allow local authorities to deliver new social housing referred to in the Prime Minister's Building Britain's Future announcement has been spent in each region; [307015]
(4) how much of the £660 million for Kickstart referred to in the Prime Minister's Building Britain's Future announcement has been spent in each region; [307016]
(5) how much of the £750 million to be allocated via the Homes and Communities Agency's National Affordable Housing Programme referred to in the Prime Minister's Building Britain's Future announcement has been spent in each region. [307017]
John Healey:
The Budget 2009 and Housing Pledge funding for Kickstart and LA New Build are treated as single spending programmes. The additional funding
provided for NAHP as part of the Pledge is treated as part of the mainstream NAHP programme. The announced funding for each region listed as follows is given against these total budgets.
| Announcements 2009-10: (in £ millions) | |||
| Region | NAHP | Kickstart round 1 (approved including approved subject to conditions) | LA New Build (approved) |
| Note: Figures may not sum due to roundings. | |||
We have on 16 December 2009 also announced short-listed projects for round two of Kickstart for a share of up to £550 million. All the projects will now go through a rigorous final assessment by the Homes and Communities Agency to determine which will get the green light. As this funding is intended to support the housebuilding industry when it needs it most, one of the key factors will be the ability to complete building work by March 2012.
| Kickstart round 2 announcement of short-listed projects | |
| Region | Amount of investment (in £ millions) |
The 2009-10 budget for each of these programmes is available in the Homes and Communities Agency's Corporate Plan 2009-10.
Housing: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to provide accommodation in Leeds to meet the city's projected population increase. [306926]
Mr. Ian Austin:
Current market conditions are challenging, but there is strong pent-up demand for new homes. Therefore we remain committed to achieving a step-change in housing supply whilst recognising the scale of the challenge this entails, and want to see a swift and sustainable recovery in housing. A sufficient, suitable supply of land for housing, which responds to
market signals and rising demand, will be critical to achieving this. We therefore announced a proposal to improve the quality of the five-year supply of economically viable sites that are required under PPS3 in the pre-Budget report, as well as other work to improve the delivery of housing.
We are keen to see all local authorities put in place an adopted Core Strategy. Leeds city council has the highest housing requirement figure in the country. Provision for this will be demonstrated in their emerging Core Strategy. The council has recently ended a round of formal consultation on this document, which has an expected publication date of September 2010 and submission in January 2011. It is hoped that the Core Strategy will be adopted by November 2011.
The scale of its housing requirements means that Leeds city council is a national priority. The Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber, the Planning Inspectorate, the Planning Advisory Service and the Department are giving as much aid and assistance as possible to ensure a prompt production of the Core Strategy to put in place the delivery mechanisms for housing to meet the requirements.
We have also taken measures to support the construction industry, including the biggest council house building programme for nearly two decades, from which I am pleased that Leeds has benefited. I am also pleased to be working with the Leeds City Region Partnership on its Urban Eco Settlement initiative, which includes the Aire Valley in Leeds where we are already investing Kickstart funding and which has further potential to contribute to the delivery of the housing that Leeds needs.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average house price in Leeds West constituency was (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years ago. [306937]
Mr. Ian Austin: House price information is not available by constituency only by local authority. The average house prices for Leeds are as follows:
| £ | |
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to enable Leeds housing associations to access funds provided by his Department for new housing development. [307438]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) allocates funds through a process of Continuous Market Engagement (CME) whereby bids for funding can be submitted through this ongoing process following discussions with local authorities and HCA Investment and Regeneration Managers. Monthly clinics are held at which bids from housing associations are discussed and prioritised.
At the end of November 2009, £50.9 million had been allocated in Leeds for 1,609 homes under the 2008-11 National Affordable Housing Programme.
In addition, £3.5 million has been allocated to Leeds city council under the local authority Newbuild Round 1 programme for 63 homes.
Funds under the Kickstart round 1 programme worth £7.2 million, for 235 homes (subject to funding conditions) were announced in Leeds area in October 2009.
Kickstart Round 2 will allocate over £30 million across Yorkshire and Humber over 23 schemes including one in Leeds. This investment will support the delivery of approximately 1,488 homes in the region by March 2012.
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties in England have a value of over £2 million. [307087]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However the Land Registry does publish information on the number of residential house sales over £2 million. These data are for England and Wales only and are published in their monthly House Price Index report.
In August 2009 there were 71 properties sold for over £2 million. This is 0.1 per cent. of the 53,236 transactions for the month.
Housing: Water
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has held with housebuilders on the merits of including grey water recycling systems in new build homes. [306329]
Mr. Ian Austin: Officials have an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the house building industry on a wide range of issues including on building standards for new homes.
Infrastructure Planning Commission: Pay
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) basic salary, (b) bonus structure, (c) employers' pension contribution and (d) benefits in kind are for each commissioner and director, including the Chief Executive, of the Infrastructure Planning Commission; and what their contracted hours per week are in each case. [305943]
John Healey: The remuneration packages and range for the Infrastructure Planning Commission's (IPC) commissioners, chief executive officer and directors are provided in the following table:
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the commencement of each of the substantive provisions of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. [307068]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The arrangements for the commencement of provisions contained in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 are set out in sections 148 and 149 of the Act. A number of provisions will come into force on a day specified by the Secretary of State.
Commencement Order No. l (2009 No. 3087 (C.137)) was made on 24 November 2009. This commenced a number of minor provisions relating to the local authority economic assessment duty and the regional strategy.
We plan to make a further commencement order shortly. The likely details of this are set out in the following table:
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