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Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
How they reconcile their principle of sustaining the cohesion of communities with programmes based on demolition and dispersal; and what assessment they have made of the social implications of such programmes. [HL338]
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:
How much public money has been designated for housing market renewal in the Midlands and the north of England in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and, in total, for the next 15 years; and how much, as a percentage and in real terms, will be used for demolition, for renovation or for renewal in the Pathfinder areas. [HL337]
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.
Year | 200405 | 200506 | 200607 | 200708 |
Amount | £150 million | £290 million | £335 million | £450 million |
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which are the nine areas targeted for the Pathfinder programme and what are the names of the projects in each area; how many properties in each area are currently owned by owner occupiers, local authorities, housing associations and private landlords; and how many of the affected properties are earmarked for demolition or renovation. [HL336]
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:
Birmingham and Sandwell, known as Urban Living;
East Lancashire (Burnley, Blackburn, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale), known as Elevate East Lancashire;
Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire, known as Gateway;
Merseyside (Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral), known as NewHeartlands;
Newcastle and Gateshead, known as Bridging NewcastleGateshead;
North Staffordshire (Stoke, east Newcastle-under-Lyme and east Biddulph), known as Renew North Staffordshire;
Oldham and Rochdale, known as Partners in Action;
South Yorkshire (Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham), known as Transform South Yorkshire.
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
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:
Where they have set out the thinking behind their Pathfinder housing market renewal project. [HL335]
Baroness Andrews: The thinking behind the housing market renewal Pathfinder programme has been set out in the following documents:
Memorandum from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions to the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee, 2002 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmtlgr/240/240m14.htm.
The Government's Response to the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee's Sixth Report on Empty Homes, Cm 5514, The Stationery Office, 2002, ISBN 0101551428 www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpmhousing/documents/downloadable/odpmhouse028906.pdf.
Sustainable communities: building for the future, pages 2429, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2003 www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpmcommunities/documents/page/odpmcomm02218405.hcspP35939856.
Sustainable Communities: Homes for All, pages 4852, Cm 6424, The Stationery Office, 2005, ISBN 0101642423 www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpmabout/documents/page/odpmabout03429524.hcspP913111785.
ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee, Empty Homes and Low Demand Pathfinders, Written Evidence, Ev1Ev7, HC 295II, The Stationery Office, 2005, ISBN 0215 02195 9www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmodpm/295/295we02.htm.
Market renewal Pathfinders: invitation to submit a scheme update, ODPM, 2005www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpmcommunities/documents/downloadable/odpmcomm035675.pdf.
Additional information on market renewal Pathfinders is available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpmcommunities/documents/divisionhomepage/037871.hcsp.
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:
What is the average package of financial compensation given to people whose homes have been compulsorily acquired as part of the Pathfinder programme; and what is the commensurate price of an average house available for acquisition in the north-west of England. [HL339]
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.
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