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42124

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on devolution of the Affordable Homes programme to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
	tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
	uin	191376
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Housing policy and the provision of affordable housing is not a function of combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships.</p><p>Elected local councils act as both the local housing authorities and local planning authorities, and we should be cautious about any intervention which effectively transferred power upwards.</p><p>Notwithstanding, in the recent Affordable Homes Programme prospectus, we have stated that local authorities will want to engage in strategic dialogue with their Local Enterprise Partnerships when identifying key areas for economic growth.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

46856

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment has he made of the effect of buy-to-leave investments on the proportion of homes standing empty.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	195186
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Tuesday 8 April 2014]</em></p><p><em>Action on empty homes</em></p><p>The Coalition Government has a comprehensive package of policies to help get empty homes back into use. They include:</p><p>· A £235 million empty homes funding programme, which will deliver 12,000 homes from empty properties by March 2015 – with apprenticeships on offer to make this happen.</p><p>· Rewarding councils for bringing empty homes back into use through the New Homes Bonus – since April 2011, councils have received over £2.2 billion for bringing over 93,000 empty homes back into use, which they can then use to benefit the wider community.</p><p>· Giving councils new powers to remove council tax subsidies to empty homes, and use the funds to keep the overall rate of council tax down.</p><p>· Cancelling the last Administration's Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes, instead focusing on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use.</p><p><br> <em>The evidence base</em></p><p>This approach is working. The number of empty homes has fallen year-on-year since 2009, and at now at the lowest level since 2004. Similarly, the number of long-term vacant properties has fallen by around a third since 2009.</p><p>I note that Islington Borough Council's recent discussion paper on so-called “Buy to Leave” tried to use the electoral roll as a proxy for measurement – yet many UK residents of foreign nationality may not be legally eligible to be on the electoral roll, or it simply may not be a priority for such individuals to register.</p><p>Moreover, in relation to London, I have placed in the Library a table showing how the number of empty homes has fallen by 30 per cent since 2009 and by 18 per cent in the last year, including a breakdown by London borough, which broadly shows falls across both central, inner and outer London boroughs. Islington has seen a drop in the number of empty homes of 26 per cent since 2009.</p><p>In that context, the evidence that “Buy to Leave” is a widespread problem is weak. Fundamentally, even where property is purchased by someone of foreign nationality, it will generally be either occupied or rented out, generating an ongoing return for the investor. It is not particularly rational for any investor not to rent out an unused flat and lose rental income, given the strong demand for private rented accommodation, especially in London.</p><p><em>The small number of foreign buyers</em></p><p>Even then, the Bank of England recently estimated that foreign buyers represent just 3% of total residential property transactions in London (Bank of England, <em>Financial Stability Report</em>, November 2013). Knight Frank have estimated that between 85% and 90% of new-build sales in Greater London are sold to domestic buyers, and there is no indication of a shift towards higher non-resident purchases in the last two years (Knight Frank, <em>International Buyers in London</em>, October 2013). Savills have reported that the proportion of sales to overseas buyers in ‘prime' London markets is no higher than it was in 1990. But they also estimate that, in 2012, foreign investment helped to finance 3,000 new affordable homes and added a further 3,000 much needed new homes to the market-rented sector (Savills, <em>Spotlight: The World in London</em>, 2013).</p><p><em>How foreign investment helps build new housing</em></p><p>Both domestic and foreign investment in new housing has been helping to provide the finance needed to build it, particularly in a global city like London. Without upfront investment, financiers would not have released the cash needed for development to go ahead, and building would have stalled. These new developments not only provide homes for people to live and work, they also unlock associated affordable housing development. A good example is the Battersea Power Station redevelopment which, having laid derelict for thirty years, is now being taken forward thanks to the combination of private investment from Malaysia and public infrastructure support from the UK Government. Both were essential to move the project forward.</p><p><em>Marketing new build to local residents</em></p><p>I would add that the Government has actively encouraged the property industry to ensure that homes for sale are marketed in the United Kingdom, and not solely overseas. In response, the Home Builders Federation announced in December 2013 a new industry initiative which commits signatories to ensure that housing developments in London are marketed in the UK either at the same time as, or in advance of, any overseas launch.</p><p>The Mayor of London has also recently launched a Mayoral Concordat on new homes in the capital, writing to key developers across the UK, asking them to sign up to commit to selling new homes on every development to Londoners before, or at the same time as they are available to overseas buyers. The Concordat is already supported by the Major Developer Group, London First, the London Chamber of Commerce and the Home Builders Federation and signed by fifty developers in London.</p><p><em>Tackling tax avoidance</em></p><p>Of course, it is important that overseas owners of property pay their way. That is why this Government has taken action to tackle tax avoidance by reforming taxation of higher-value UK residential property held by non-natural persons, and also levelling the playing field by introducing capital gains tax on future gains made by non-residents disposing of UK residential property. Last month's Budget took further steps to discourage the use of corporate envelopes to invest in high value housing to avoid paying tax.</p><p><em>More new housing to buy and rent</em></p><p>As well as tackling empty homes, the Government's long-term economic plan is increasing investment and building more homes. According to the NHBC, in 2013, new housing registrations rose by 30 per cent in England on the year before and registrations are the highest since 2007; in London, new registrations rose 60 per cent, the highest annual total since their records began 26 years ago.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 5260 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

46859

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on charges for property owners who purchase properties with the intention of keeping them vacant.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	195177
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to PQ 195177.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 5262 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

48451

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much housing stock was held by (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations for (i) social rent, (ii) affordable rent, (iii) intermediate rent and (iv) affordable homeownership in each year from 2010 to 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
	tabling member printed	Mr Nick Raynsford
	uin	196529
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Statistics on the amount of dwelling stock in England by tenure are published in the Department's live table 104, which is available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants</a></p><p>This provides the total amount of stock owned by Private Registered Providers (housing associations) and local authorities but does not provide any further breakdown.</p><p>More detailed information on housing stock owned by local authorities, including a breakdown between those for social rent and those for affordable rent, for 2011-12 and 2012-13 only, can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Department's annual Local Authority Housing Statistics release. Information on housing stock for intermediate rent and affordable home ownership is not collected separately. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2012-to-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2012-to-2013</a> (Section A, Question 2)</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2011-to-2012" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2011-to-2012</a> (Section A, Question 2)</p><p>Detailed information on housing stock owned by Private Registered Providers can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Homes and Communities Agency's annual Statistical Data Return. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:</p><p><a href="http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/second-statistical-data-return" target="_blank">http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/second-statistical-data-return</a> (2012-13)</p><p><a href="http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/statistical-data-return" target="_blank">http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/statistical-data-return</a> (2011-12)</p><p>Prior to 2011-12, this information was collected in the Tenant Services Authority's Regulatory and Statistical return and can be found here:</p><p><a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120419011320/http:/www.tenantservicesauthority.org/server/show/nav.15039" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120419011320/http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org/server/show/nav.15039</a></p><p>£19.5 billion of public and private investment in affordable homes will deliver 170,000 homes in the four years to 2015. Half way through, we have already delivered almost 99,000 affordable homes (98,700).</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	171 label Biography information for Mr Nick Raynsford

48452

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people (a) under 18 and (b) under 16 years of age have been given social housing in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	196482
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The numbers of lead tenants being given social housing aged under 18 in England in the past five years for which data are available (1<sup>st</sup> April 2008 – 31<sup>st</sup> March 2013) is in the table below. Lead tenants are defined as the most economically active in the household. Numbers shown include lettings from both local authorities and private registered providers.</p><p>The numbers per year and per tenure type are as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>Tenant age</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2008/09</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12<sup>i,ii</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13<sup>i,ii</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p>General Needs</p></td><td><p>Under 18</p></td><td><p>2,758</p></td><td><p>2,232</p></td><td><p>2,108</p></td><td><p>1,875</p></td><td><p>1,535</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><em>of which under 16</em></p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total lettings</p></td><td><p>264,790</p></td><td><p>260,235</p></td><td><p>269,187</p></td><td><p>270,678</p></td><td><p>260,530</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p>Supported Housing<sup>iii</sup></p></td><td><p>Under 18</p></td><td><p>9,579</p></td><td><p>8,520</p></td><td><p>9,384</p></td><td><p>9,021</p></td><td><p>7,989</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><em>of which under 16</em></p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total lettings</p></td><td><p>114,400</p></td><td><p>107,520</p></td><td><p>124,438</p></td><td><p>123,806</p></td><td><p>118,213</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p>Under 18</p></td><td><p>12,336</p></td><td><p>10,752</p></td><td><p>11,492</p></td><td><p>10,897</p></td><td><p>9,524</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><em>of which under 16</em></p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total lettings</p></td><td><p>379,190</p></td><td><p>367,756</p></td><td><p>393,625</p></td><td><p>394,484</p></td><td><p>378,743</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"><p>i. Includes both social and Affordable Rent lettings.</p><p>ii. For 2011/12 and 2012/13, age is imputed where missing.</p><p>iii. Supported housing is defined as housing with special design facilities features, or designated for a particular client group.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Note: values in columns may not sum to totals due to rounding. Source: Continuous Recording of Lettings system (CORE).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

48456

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent representations he has received on the potential merits of extending the Right to Acquire to homes built before 1997.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Mary Macleod
	uin	196563
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>My Department has received a number of recent representations from individual housing association tenants to extend the Right to Acquire to homes built before 1997, to enable them to buy the home in which they currently live.</p><p>The Right to Acquire is offered on a different basis to the Right to Buy, including the level of discount, to reflect the different tenancy and type of landlord. Housing association properties which were not part of a stock transfer have been provided through various forms of finance, including private money. However, the Government is committed to keeping the policy under review and we are open to further representations on this matter.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	3927 label Biography information for Mary Macleod

48457

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on families: disadvantaged, what criteria his Department uses for assessing whether a family has been turned around.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	196545
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>As set out in my answer to the hon. Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) on 2 December 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, column 556W, the criteria used by local authorities to determine whether a family is deemed turned around are published in the Financial Framework for the Troubled Families Programme's Payment by Results Scheme. This can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-troubled-families-programme-financial-framework" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-troubled-families-programme-financial-framework</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

48972

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which parliamentary constituency each onshore wind planning application which he has received for determination during this Parliament is located.
	tabling member constituency	Sunderland Central
	tabling member printed	Julie Elliott
	uin	197001
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>I can confirm that during this Parliament (since May 2010) 50 on shore wind farm planning appeals have been recovered by Ministers.</p><p>The information is held by local planning authority, rather than Parliamentary constituency and a table has been placed in the Library of the House.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	4127 label Biography information for Julie Elliott

49044

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what is the average (a) social rent and (b) Affordable Rent is for units funded under the Affordable Homes Programme in each region of the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	197134
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The information is not centrally held in the form requested.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

49045

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average housing benefit award is for housing benefit claimants paying Affordable Rent under the Affordable Homes Programme in each region of the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	197135
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The information is not centrally held in the form requested.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

49169

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the grant per property was for new affordable housing under the National Affordable Housing Programme, by region, in each year since the inception of the Programme.
	tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
	tabling member printed	John Healey
	uin	197218
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Average grant allocated per property for the National Affordable Housing Programme, which operated from 2008-09 to 2010-11, broken down by Homes and Communities Agency operating area, is set out below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Operating area</p></td><td><p>2008/09</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2010/11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East and South East</p></td><td><p>£42,692</p></td><td><p>£45,165</p></td><td><p>£39,793</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>£83,376</p></td><td><p>£89,381</p></td><td><p>£72,092</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Midlands</p></td><td><p>£40,961</p></td><td><p>£40,005</p></td><td><p>£41,942</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East, Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>£39,392</p></td><td><p>£37,113</p></td><td><p>£42,744</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>£44,519</p></td><td><p>£42,060</p></td><td><p>£44,484</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South and South West</p></td><td><p>£45,284</p></td><td><p>£49,430</p></td><td><p>£47,273</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Homes and Communities Agency</p><p>Since 2011, the new Affordable Rent model allows for new affordable housing to be delivered with a lower grant cost to taxpayers.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey