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24 Feb 2010 : Column 609W—continued
Council Housing: Property Transfer
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the use of Community Land Trusts; [318535]
(2) what steps he plans to take to promote Community Land Trusts in urban areas; and if he will make a statement. [318536]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government are committed to helping the development of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) that are well managed and financially robust.
To provide clarity about the nature of the CLT sector, we included a definition of a CLT in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.
We have supported a number of pilot CLT projects across the country through the Housing Corporation and its successor the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The HCA is exploring with local authorities the role that CLTs could play in meeting local housing need.
We have approved a £500,000 grant for Carnegie UK, supported by Community Finance Solutions, to develop the CLT sector by developing a sustainable network of training/guidance and support, and by engaging with lenders to facilitate access to finance for communities wishing to develop CLTs.
We have also funded the Development Trust Association to establish an asset transfer unit to help community organisations including CLTs to transform land and buildings into community assets.
Disadvantaged
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the level of deprivation in England was as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation for each individual indicator of deprivation in each (a) local authority and (b) lower layer super output area in each year since 2000. [318262]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The English indices of deprivation have, since 2004, been produced at lower level super output area (LSOA) level. LSOAs are smaller than wards and are designed to remain consistent in size, and over time, to allow more detailed identification of pockets of deprivation. There are 32,482 LSOAs in England with an average population of 1,500 people.
The indices are presented by ranking each area to show relative, rather than absolute levels of, deprivation. LSOAs are ranked from 1, most deprived, to 32,482, least deprived.
There are a selection of local authority level summary measures. The majority of the domains, and all the underlying indicators, are only published at LSOA level. For full details I refer to the publications on the Communities and Local Government website, as follows:
Indices of deprivation 2007 LSOA and Local Authority summaries can be found at:
Indices of deprivation 2004 LSOA and local authority summaries can be found at:
Before this, the indices were produced for each electoral ward in England. Indices of deprivation 2000 ward summaries can be found at:
Empty Dwelling Management Orders: North East
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty dwelling management orders there have been in each housing authority area in the North East region to date. [318825]
Mr. Ian Austin: In total 29 interim empty dwelling management orders have been issued to date. A residential property tribunal authorised the issue of one interim empty dwelling management order by South Tyneside council in March 2009.
Empty dwelling management orders should only be considered as a last resort, where all other measures of investigation and negotiation have been exhausted and the local authority has been unable to persuade the owner to bring the property back into use. In many cases the threat of an empty dwelling management order is sufficient to make owners take action.
Energy Performance Certificates
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment his Department has made of the average cost to a certificate holder of a domestic energy performance certificate; and if he will make a statement. [316947]
Mr. Ian Austin: The cost of energy performance certificates (EPCs) is determined by the market. No information is therefore held centrally upon which to base an estimate of the average cost to building owners or landlords of having an EPC prepared on any property that they may own.
Government Offices for the Regions: Finance
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what programme budgets of each sponsoring Government Department are administered by Government Offices for the Regions. [318508]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The programme budgets currently being administered by Government offices for the regions are as follows:
Regional Assembly Grant
Regional Housing Pot
Regional Chambers Fund
Local Area Agreements
Gypsy and Traveller Site Grant
Disabled Facilities Grant
European Regional Development Fund-Objectives 1 and 2
New Deal for Communities
Preventing Violent Extremism
PSA 16 Challenge Fund
European Social Fund-Objectives 1, 2 and 3
GO Networking
CSA Support
CSA Secondee costs
Young London Matters
Manchester City Region
Child Poverty
Childcare Regional Networks
Local Delivery Support
14-19 Sub-regional Groupings Support
Youth Opportunities Fund
Youth Capital Fund/Capital Fund Plus
Teenage Pregnancy
Quality Protects and Education Protects
Community Cohesion Unit
Safeguarding Advisors
Sustainable Schools
Parenting Regional Conferences
Child Health Strategy Regional Conference
You're Welcome
CSLA Pilots
NEET Hotspots
Under 5's Free Offer
2 Year Olds Offer
Home Office/Ministry of Justice
Regional Partnership Performance Improvement Fund
National Partnership Performance Improvement Fund
Prevent Fund
Protect Programme Delivery
Private Space Violence Fund
Youth Crime Delivery
Basic Command Unit Fund
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs)
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs)
Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs)
Rape Crisis Centre Funding
Not in my Neighbourhood
Tackling Violent Crime Programme (TVCP)
ISB Devon's Project Expenditure
PPSU Safer Bristol Partnership
Leader + (EAGGF)
Sustainable Development Transformation & Transition Fund
Regional Climate Change Partnership Funding
Regional Infrastructure Programme
Home Information Packs
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to Lord Bates of 25 January 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column 1190, on energy performance certificates, what the evidential basis is for the assessment that home information packs have (a) bedded down well and (b) proved to be a useful instrument to help purchasers. [317871]
Mr. Ian Austin: A survey by Connells estate agency in 2009 of more than 37,000 transactions showed that sales with HIPs go through seven days more quickly on average. Consumer research carried out by the Office of Fair Trading showed that a third of buyers were influenced by their HIP and found the new property information questionnaire to be the most useful component.
Homelessness
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the provision of services to households which are designated intentionally homeless; [314657]
(2) what provision is made for emergency accommodation for households which are classified as intentionally homeless; [314658]
(3) how many households classified as intentionally homeless in each of the last three years included children; [314659]
(4) how many households classified as intentionally homeless were provided with emergency accommodation in each of the last three years; and how many such households were accommodated for more than (a) 28 and (b) 60 days; [314660]
(5) how many households in each local authority area were classified as intentionally homeless in each of the last three years; [314661]
(6) how many households in temporary accommodation were classified as intentionally homeless in each of the last three years; [314663]
(7) how many of the households in temporary accommodation were classified as intentionally homeless on the latest date for which figures are available. [314664]
Mr. Ian Austin: Chapter 11 of the "Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities", issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in July 2006 under section 182 of the Housing Act 1996 ("the 1996 Act") provides guidance to local authorities on determining whether housing applicants became homeless, or threatened with homelessness, intentionally or unintentionally. Supplementary guidance on intentional homelessness, in respect of applicants who face homelessness following difficulties in mortgage commitments, was issued by the Secretary of State in August 2009 under s.182 of the 1996 Act. The guidance is available on the Department's website at the following link:
Under section 190(2)(a) of the 1996 Act, where a local housing authority in England are satisfied that an applicant is eligible for assistance, has a priority need for accommodation but has become homeless intentionally, the authority must secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation for such period as they consider will give the applicant a reasonable opportunity of securing accommodation for his or her occupation. Under section 190(2)(b), the authority must also provide the applicant with (or secure that the applicant is provided with) advice and assistance in any attempts the applicant may make to secure that accommodation becomes available for his or her occupation. Under section 188(1) of the 1996 Act, authorities also have a duty to secure accommodation for applicants, pending inquiries, if they have reason to believe the applicant may eligible for assistance, homeless and may have a priority need for accommodation. This duty will apply even if the authority has reason to believe the applicant may have become homeless intentionally.
Information about English local housing authorities' activities under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected at local authority level, and published by the Department in the quarterly statistical release on statutory homelessness, available both in the Library and via the CLG website:
Under the legislation, the priority need categories include, among others, applicants with whom dependent children reside or might reasonably be expected to reside. Data collected include the number of applicants accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, in priority need but intentionally homeless.
The number of households found to be eligible for assistance, intentionally homeless and in priority need in the years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 is 10,930, 9,560 and 8,890 respectively. Information about the number of these households that included children is not held centrally.
Information about the number of households found intentionally homeless and provided with emergency accommodation, and for how long they were accommodated, is not held centrally.
Data on households found to be eligible for assistance, intentionally homeless and in priority need are provided in live table 627 on statutory homelessness, which is published on the Department's website:
The number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, in priority need but intentionally homeless and accommodated in temporary accommodation for such period as will give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to secure accommodation was 1,370, 810 and 840 at the end of March 2007, March 2008 and March 2009, respectively. The latest quarterly data show 600 such households in temporary accommodation at the end of September 2009.
Housing
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department has allocated to assist first-time buyers with property purchases in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12. [318507]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 866-68 W.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brent East (Sarah Teather) on 22 February 2010, Official Report, column 267W.
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