Previous Section Back to Table of Contents Lords Hansard Home Page


 
22 Jun 2005 : Column WA171
 

Written Answers

Wednesday, 22 June 2005.

Housing

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Baroness Andrews): The housing market renewal programme is not based on demolition and dispersal. The Government do not have plans to demolish 400,000 homes as often misquoted. The nine market renewal Pathfinders plan to fund the demolition of 10,000 homes by March 2006, compared with refurbishing 20,000 homes and building 3,000 new ones.

The programme is based on giving people an option to stay in an area when their circumstances change, by providing more choice of good quality housing through a mix of refurbishment, demolition and new build. The Pathfinders are expected to ensure replacement housing enables anyone affected by demolition to stay nearby.

Each Pathfinder is developing programmes for the period up to 2008 and as part of that they are expected to demonstrate how they are engaging communities and ensuring that residents have a role. These proposals will be scrutinised by the Audit Commission. For example, in Liverpool, the number of demolitions proposed in the Anfield area was increased in response to community demand, and 72 per cent of residents in the "Welsh Streets" area supported the need for radical change, including demolition.

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Baroness Andrews: Over £1.2 billion has been allocated to the housing market renewal fund to March 2008.
 
22 Jun 2005 : Column WA172
 

The table below sets out the budgets for the housing market renewal fund by financial year to March 2008.

Funding for future years will be agreed in SR06 and subsequent spending reviews.

Information on the detailed funding breakdown by intervention type is not collected centrally. However, funding allocated to March 2006 is expected to deliver around 10,000 demolitions, along with over 20,000 renovations across the programme.
Year2004–052005–062006–072007–08
Amount£150 million£290 million£335 million£450 million

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Baroness Andrews: The nine market renewal Pathfinders cover sub-regional housing markets that straddle parts of two or more local authority areas. The nine areas are:

The table below shows details from the 2001 census of the number of households by tenure in each Pathfinder intervention area. In addition it shows the number of vacancies in each area.
 
22 Jun 2005 : Column WA171
 

PathfinderNo of HouseholdsOwner OccupiedLocal AuthorityHousing AssociationPrivate Landlord*Vacant Properties
Birmingham Sandwell57,16027,83712,9187,7748,6313,354
East Lancashire81,75451,7958,8907,17512,8948,009
Hull and East Riding103,07853,60028,9655,46215,0497,203
Manchester Salford102,08536,75031,95312,25021,13213,773
Merseyside109,64745,72318,64023,90321,3818,583
Newcastle Gateshead68,71627,41827,0745,2918,9335,261
North Staffordshire64,10034,10116,2815,1278,5893,799
Oldham Rochdale72,59338,56520,3455,4628,2214,494
South Yorkshire125,13260,27547,6406,23710,9806,288




* The 2001 census does not detail the tenure type of vacant properties, so these have been included separately. Updates of this information will be provided by Pathfinders when submitting their scheme updates later this year.

 


 
22 Jun 2005 : Column WA173
 

Funding has been allocated to Pathfinders to March 2006. It is expected that this funding will be used for around 10,000 demolitions, along with over 20,000 renovations across the programme.

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Baroness Andrews: The thinking behind the housing market renewal Pathfinder programme has been set out in the following documents:

22 Jun 2005 : Column WA174
 

The Government will be responding to the ODPM Select Committee's eighth report on empty homes and low demand Pathfinders shortly.

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Baroness Andrews: Information about compensation payments made for compulsory purchase of land is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The level of compensation payable in an individual case is a matter for negotiation between the acquiring authority and the land owner.

Compensation for residential home owners is generally payable under three heads: the open market value of the property disregarding the effect of the scheme underlying the compulsory acquisition; disturbance costs in respect of the losses sustained as a direct consequence of having to move out of the property; and a home-loss payment payable in recognition of the distress and discomfort of being compelled to move, based on 10 per cent of the open market value of the land subject to a minimum payment of £3,400 and a maximum payment of £34,000 (these thresholds are currently the subject of an annual review).

The Government do not categorise any particular type of house as average and do not collect information on asking price of property for sale. The median price of residential property actually purchased in the north-west of England in the final quarter of 2004, which is the latest period for which finalised Land Registry data are available, was £114,000.


Next Section Back to Table of Contents Lords Hansard Home Page