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1172796

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	05/02/2020
	date	22/01/2020
	date tabled	22/01/2020
	ddp created	22/01/2020 22:25:59
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	28/01/2020 17:45:13 03/02/2020 17:35:03
	house id	2
	identifier	HL727
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	03/02/2020 17:03:00
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 21 January (HL187), what criteria they use to assess what constitutes a “legitimate criticism” of a religion when investigating any incident that has been reported by someone who has perceived it to “be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s religion or perceived religion”; and what steps they take to ensure freedom of expression is upheld.
	session	2019/20
	session number	1
	tabling member printed	Lord Vinson
	title	House of Lords Tabled Parliamentary Question 2019/20 HL727
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	HL727
	version	2
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>Once a hate crime has been reported it is for the police to investigate whether a hate crime has been committed, in line with the relevant legislation, and to refer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether there should be a charge.</p><p>In order for a crime to be charged and prosecuted as a hate crime, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) uses the legal definitions contained in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA 1998) and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003).</p><p>The CPS assesses each case on its individual facts and circumstances. Prosecutions can only be brought in line with legislation and in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.</p><p>The CPS legal guidance on hate crime recognises the right to freedom of expression set out in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The legal guidance makes it clear that it is not only speech which is well-received and popular that is protected but also speech which is potentially offensive, shocking or disturbing. The CPS seeks to balance the right to freedom of speech and expression against the duty of the state to act proportionately.</p>
	creator	1807 label Biography information for Lord Vinson
	publisher	25277 pref label House of Lords
	tabling member	1807 label Biography information for Lord Vinson

1179642

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	24/02/2020
	date	24/02/2020
	date tabled	24/02/2020
	ddp created	24/02/2020 16:12:44
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	24/02/2020 16:20:39 24/02/2020 16:58:41
	house id	1
	identifier	900885
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	24/02/2020 16:26:00
	question text	What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government funding for local authorities in England.
	session	2019/21
	session number	1
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Withington
	tabling member printed	Jeff Smith
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2019/21 900885
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	900885
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	NamedDay
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Government has responded to the pressures councils are facing. The settlement provides access to an estimated 4.4 per cent increase in core spending power; the largest year on year increase in a decade, with a further £1.5 billion to fund adult and children’s social care.</p>
	creator	4456 label Biography information for Jeff Smith
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4456 label Biography information for Jeff Smith

1236323

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	22/09/2020
	date	17/09/2020
	date tabled	17/09/2020
	ddp created	22/09/2020 13:45:21
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	22/09/2020 13:46:03 22/09/2020 16:48:11
	house id	1
	identifier	91725
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	22/09/2020 16:16:12
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2020 to Question 88934 on Mortgages, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of alternatives to the EWS1 form with the mortgage sector; what suitable equivalent evidence he has encouraged mortgage lenders to accept; and if he will publish those lenders that have given assurances to the Minister for Building Safety that leaseholders should face no barriers to renewing their mortgage with their existing lender.
	session	2019/21
	session number	1
	tabling member constituency	St Albans
	tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2019/21 91725
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	91725
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	NamedDay
	answer	answer answer text <p>A building owner might have other evidence that may provide the necessary assurance to lenders, such as a recent fire risk assessment which includes the external walls. The Department is continuing to meet with lenders to explore such alternative evidence. No lender has said they would request an EWS1 when an existing mortgage holder is renewing their mortgage on the same terms and is not seeking to borrow more.</p>
	creator	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1236505

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	21/09/2020
	date	17/09/2020
	date tabled	17/09/2020
	ddp created	22/09/2020 14:56:32
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	22/09/2020 14:56:32 25/09/2020 14:07:06
	house id	1
	identifier	91733
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	25/09/2020 13:35:50
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposals in the Planning for the future consultation, published 6 August 2020, on access by communities to green space which is (a) undesignated and (b) part of a growth zone.
	session	2019/21
	session number	1
	tabling member constituency	Dewsbury
	tabling member printed	Mark Eastwood
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2019/21 91733
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	91733
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p><em>Planning for the Future</em> proposes significant changes to the focus and processes of planning – to secure better outcomes including improving our precious countryside and environment alongside increasing the supply of land for new, beautiful homes and sustainable places. One key proposal is that local plans place all land into one of three categories: areas for Growth, Renewal or Protection. The consultation proposal is clear that Green Belt and valued green space, which need not necessarily be a designated area, would be included in areas for Protection.</p><p>The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that planning policies and decisions should not only protect and enhance the natural environment but should secure net gains for biodiversity, including wildlife habitat, woods and ecological networks, and recognise the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land. The reforms we are proposing are designed to support the continuing implementation of this policy by local authorities, in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan and provisions in the Environment Bill.</p><p>We also propose to transform how communities engage with plan-making, using new digital tools to make it easier for many more people to understand, engage with and influence development policies and proposals.</p><p>After carefully considering all the responses to <em>Planning for the Future</em>, the Government will publish its conclusions.</p>
	creator	4807 label Biography information for Mark Eastwood
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4807 label Biography information for Mark Eastwood

1342248

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	05/07/2021
	date	30/06/2021
	date tabled	30/06/2021
	ddp created	30/06/2021 18:40:12
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	30/06/2021 18:45:21 09/07/2021 12:40:13
	house id	1
	identifier	24967
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	09/07/2021 12:08:19
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Raising accessibility standards for new homes consultation, published on 8 September 2020, whether his Department has plans for all new homes to meet the accessible and adaptable standard proposed in that consultation.
	session	2021/22
	session number	2
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2021/22 24967
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	24967
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 18 June to Question UIN 13060.</p>
	creator	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1344596

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	12/07/2021
	date	07/07/2021
	date tabled	07/07/2021
	ddp created	07/07/2021 18:37:54
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	12/07/2021 13:15:17 16/07/2021 10:59:07
	house id	1
	identifier	29041
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	16/07/2021 10:27:26
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what financial support the Government has provided to churches during the covid-19 outbreak.
	session	2021/22
	session number	2
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2021/22 29041
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	29041
	version	2
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Government recognises the impact the pandemic has had on the finances of our places of worship and religious groups.</p><p>As part of the response to the impact of Covid-19, the Government made available a package of support specifically for charities and businesses. Places of worship that are registered charities have been able to apply to a number of these schemes on the basis of being impacted organisations themselves, and for their work delivering community services in response to the pandemic. This included the Government's £750 million package of support specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector.</p><p>The Government continues to engage regularly with a range of faith leaders and community groups - including through our Places of Worship Taskforce and regular roundtable meetings with major faith groups - to better understand how the Government can support them to respond to the pressures they face at this time.</p><p>I encourage places of worship and community groups to monitor the Government's web pages that offer information on the schemes currently available, and new schemes when they are launched, such as: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Ffinancial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19&amp;data=04%7C01%7CParliamentary%40communities.gov.uk%7C616bbfe58f274655b58208d947aca9ff%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637619629169191381%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=2Q3j64p4T4FDUAaI%2FhjRx6%2F3LC43AN553c%2FbSyvb%2Fno%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19</a></p>
	creator	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1344597

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	12/07/2021
	date	07/07/2021
	date tabled	07/07/2021
	ddp created	07/07/2021 18:37:57
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	ddp modified	07/07/2021 18:48:44 16/07/2021 10:57:11
	house id	1
	identifier	29042
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	58
	question first answered	16/07/2021 10:25:51
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that accessible housing for older and disabled people remains a priority during the covid-19 outbreak.
	session	2021/22
	session number	2
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2021/22 29042
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	29042
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>Our reforms on housing for older and disabled people progress despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government has consulted on options to raise accessible housing standards, including options to review and potentially tighten the regulatory framework to deliver accessible new homes. <br> <br> Since 2010 the Government has invested over £4 billion into the Disabled Facilities Grant, including £573 million paid to local authorities in May for 2021-22, funding adaptations to almost 450,000 homes. In our Social Housing White Paper we said that we will look at how we can improve access to suitable homes for disabled people. <br> <br> Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older and disabled people when planning new homes, and we are significantly reforming the planning system to put a much greater emphasis on design and quality, creating a system which gives local people more of a voice to make clear what new development their areas need and where.</p>
	creator	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

32412

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	16/01/2014
	date	13/01/2014
	date tabled	13/01/2014
	ddp created	14/01/2014 00:30:42
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:02:03
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	182969
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	12/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding will be put in place to support local discretionary welfare provision after 2015.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Rochdale
	tabling member printed	Simon Danczuk
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 182969
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	182969
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	NamedDay
	answer	answer answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Thursday 16 January 2014]</em></p><p>The nationally run Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans were poorly targeted and failed to help those most in need. So, in 2012 as part of wider welfare reform, the Department for Work and Pensions abolished these national discretionary schemes and transferred responsibility to local authorities so they could deliver and tailor new local support as part of their existing services to their communities.</p><p>Councils can continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances, but there is no requirement to replicate the previous approach adopted by central government.</p><p>In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted, under the Department for Work and Pensions' reforms, councils can now choose how best to support local welfare needs within their areas – what is right for, say, Rochdale may not be for other authorities. Some councils have already chosen to wind down their dedicated schemes following underspends.</p><p>In the next Spending Round period, from April 2015, central government continues to provide support to local authorities through general funds as part of the Coalition Government's commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.</p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions provided a separate fund for 2013-2015 and are carrying out a review of the provision to date.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
	creator	4059 label Biography information for Simon Danczuk
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4059 label Biography information for Simon Danczuk

33630

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	23/01/2014
	date	16/01/2014
	date tabled	16/01/2014
	ddp created	16/01/2014 20:50:41
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:13:38
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	183915
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	13/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on plans to increase house building by 2030.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Redditch
	tabling member printed	Karen Lumley
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 183915
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	183915
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	NamedDay
	answer	answer answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Thursday 23 January 2014]</em></p><p>The Government does not have a Whitehall building target. The last Administration had a state target to increase house building to 240,000 dwellings a year, yet house building then fell to its lowest peacetime rate since the 1920s.</p><p>By contrast, the Coalition Government has put in place a range of measures to get Britain building again, fix the broken housing market and help hard-working people get the home they want.</p><p>Action taken includes wide-ranging planning reform through National Planning Policy Framework; new incentives to deliver housing growth through the New Homes Bonus; as well as the Government's broader long-term economic plan to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration and keep interest rates down. I would note:</p><p>· We have already delivered 420,000 new homes since 2010.</p><p>· New orders in residential construction have risen to their highest level since 2007 according to the Office for National Statistics;</p><p>· Housing starts are at their highest since 2007 according to DCLG figures;</p><p>· The number of first time buyers is at its highest since 2007 according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders;</p><p>· Repossessions are at their lowest since 2007, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders; and</p><p>· New home registrations rose by 30 per cent in 2013 in England, the highest since 2007, and are up 60 per cent in London, according to the NHBC.</p><p>In relation to specific programmes:</p><p><em>Affordable housing</em></p><p>170,000 affordable homes have been delivered in England since April 2010.</p><p>Our Affordable Homes Programme will deliver 170,000 homes over the current spending review period (2011-2015) levering in £19.5 billion of public and private funding. We have announced a new ‘Affordable Rent to Buy' scheme which will deliver affordable homes through a recoverable fund. We have also published details of a new Affordable Homes Programme for the next spending period, which will lever in up to £23 billion in public and private funding to deliver 165,000 homes from 2015 to 2018.</p><p>The Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme is worth up to £3.5 billion (with further lending capacity held in reserve according to demand) and supported by up to £450 million grant funding in England. Up to 30,000 additional affordable homes will be underway by December 2017. Affordable Housing Finance Plc was awarded the licence for the Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme in June 2013. The first eight housing associations to be approved to borrow through the scheme were announced in January 2014, who will raise over £400 million of debt to facilitate the delivery of over 4,000 new affordable homes. We also announced a European Investment Bank loan facility worth £500 million. More borrowers will follow.</p><p>The Right to Buy Scheme, allowing eligible social tenants to buy their homes at a discount has achieved almost 24,000 sales since April 2010, with the majority (16,200) since we reinvigorated the scheme in 2012. A total of 2,845 council properties were sold between October and December last year, a 42 per cent increase on the same period in 2012. The reinvigorated Right to Buy ensures, for the first time, that the receipts from the additional sales, that is those over what was forecast prior to the change, are reinvested in helping to fund new homes for affordable rent. So far, £300 million has been generated from additional sales and already over 2,000 homes have been started on site or acquired since April 2012.</p><p><em>Home ownership schemes (Help to Buy)</em></p><p>Since April 2013, the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme has offered buyers a 20 per cent equity loan that can be used towards the cost of buying a new build homes, allowing people to buy with a 5 per cent deposit. There were over 30,000 reservations and 19,394 completed loans across England by the end of March 2014, with funding for up to 74,000 sales by March 2016. Alongside this, the Help to Buy: NewBuy scheme has so far supported a further 5,173 households purchase new build homes by the end of March 2014. The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme was extended through the 2014 Budget announcement to 2020 to help 120,000 more households purchase a new build home.</p><p>The FirstBuy scheme was announced in the Budget 2011 to help support 10,000 first time buyers on the property ladder. The scheme was replaced in April 2013 with Help to Buy. There were 11,590 FirstBuy sales to the end of March 2014.</p><p>Since the end of last year, the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee scheme is providing up to £12 billion of Government guarantees to support people to buy with a 5 per cent deposit, and over 2,500 homes have so far (by the end of January 2014) been brought through this route, and has helped lower interest rates for those with smaller deposits. The three Help to Buy schemes complement each other, and their success can be taken in the whole.</p><p><em>Private rented sector</em></p><p>The £1 billion Build to Rent programme, which provides development phase finance, is supporting new high quality development purpose built for private rent and is on track to create up to 10,000 new homes. The programme received £1.4 billion of bids under Round One, which is expected to support 15 developments which will provide over 2,600 homes across England in locations which include Durham, Liverpool, Manchester and London. Five contracts to the combined value of over £74.5 million have already been agreed which will deliver over 1,000 new homes for private rent; construction has already started in Southampton (Centenary Quay) and Manchester (Three Towers); more contracts will follow.</p><p>Bidding for Round Two of the Build to Rent Fund was significantly oversubscribed receiving 126 bids to the value of around £3 billion. 36 projects on the shortlist from Round Two are now going through a competitive due diligence process, with successful bids receiving funding to deliver thousands of new homes. A list of all shortlisted bids has been placed in the Library of the House. The shortlist is over-programmed, meaning not all shortlisted projects will receive funding. Shortlisting and due diligence are the first stages of the Build to Rent approval process. The Homes and Communities Agency will continue to work with bidders until exchange of contracts in order to ensure value for money for taxpayers.</p><p>In addition to direct funding, the Government's Private Rented Sector Taskforce is continuing to build the private rented sector as an investment market and have identified £10 billion of domestic and foreign investment available in the private rented sector.</p><p>The Private Rented Sector Guarantees scheme will provide a government guarantee for up to £3.5 billion debt (with further lending capacity held in reserve according to demand) for borrowers investing in new build private rented sector homes across the UK. The guarantees will use the UK Government's hard earned fiscal credibility to help lower the cost of borrowing and incentivise investment in the sector. DCLG is open for business to issue direct guarantees and is actively discussing potential applications with a number of borrowers looking to invest in large scale developments. On 18 March, we also launched a procurement inviting bids from the market to be our delivery partner for Private Rented Sector Housing Debt Guarantees, with the aim of maximizing take up of guarantees including for small and medium enterprises. My Department will be evaluating bids to perform the role in due course.</p><p><em>Infrastructure and development finance</em></p><p>The Get Britain Building investment fund has been provided over £500 million of finance to unlock smaller stalled sites. As at February 2014, it has helped kick start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites.</p><p>The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promoted economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships and the devolved administrations to fund local projects. Progress updates in June 2013 reported that £652 million of capital funding had been allocated to 305 projects across England. Local Enterprise Partnerships expect these projects to create 4,900 businesses, 94,000 jobs and 27,000 houses. A further update will be published in due course.</p><p>The £474 million Local Infrastructure Fund is helping to unlock large scale housing developments. To date, we have unlocked 15 sites capable of delivering almost 80,000 homes through a combination of financial and non-financial support. We are currently working to unlock a further 13 stalled schemes to deliver up to 40,000 new homes. In addition to the capital investment, we have made available £13 million of capacity funding to support local authorities in fulfilling their local housing ambitions.</p><p>The 2013 Autumn Statement also announced a further £1 billion to unlock development on large housing sites and a Prospectus inviting bids was published on 14 April. During the Easter Recess, we also published the Local Growth Fund (Housing Infrastructure) prospectus. This sets out the detail on how to access the £50 million part of the Local Growth Fund in 2015-16. It is designed to help speed up and restart housing developments between 250 and 1,499 units that have slowed down or stalled.</p><p>The 2014 Budget announced further funding for driving up housing supply including a £525 million Builders Finance Fund to provide development finance for small sites to support the construction of 15,000 new homes; the prospectus has also recently been published.</p><p>The Budget announced the intention to create an Urban Development Corporation for the Ebbsfleet area to accelerate the construction of a garden-city style development which will unlock up to 15,000 homes – with up to £200 million capital being made available. We have also published a prospectus to support further locally-led garden cities.</p><p>A new Estate Regeneration Fund of £150 million of recoverable investment will help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of some of our most deprived estates. And we will work with the Greater London Authority to support the regeneration of Brent Cross and unlock 11,000 homes at Barking Riverside.</p><p>We have also taken steps to scale back economically unrealistic Section 106 agreements, such as from the last Administration's housing bubble, which result in no housing development, no regeneration and no community benefits.</p><p><em>Self-build</em></p><p>The £30 million investment fund for Custom Build Homes is currently assessing loan funding of £22.6 million with the potential to deliver 270 units. At the 2014 Budget, we announced that the Government will consult on a new ‘Right to Build' to give self builders a right to a plot from councils, a new £150 million investment fund to help provide up to 10,000 service plots, and announced will we look to extend Help to Buy equity to custom build. We have also exempted self-build from the Community Infrastructure Levy and we are consulting on a similar policy change for Section 106 tariffs.</p><p><em>Empty homes</em></p><p>This Government has provided £235 million of funding which aims to bring up to 12,000 homes back into use by March 2015. This is part of a wider package of measures to get empty homes and empty buildings back into productive use, in contrast to the last Administration's policy of wholesale demolition. The numbers of empty properties in England have fallen to a 10-year low, and the number of long-term vacant properties has fallen by around a third since 2009.</p><p><em>Public sector land</em></p><p>The Public Sector Land Programme has identified land with capacity for over 100,000 homes which we aim to release to the private sector by March 2015. At the end of December 2013, we had released land capable of delivering 68,000 homes to be built.</p><p>Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes – creating opportunities for housing and economic development.</p><p>This was part of a series of measures to support brownfield development, as outlined in more detail in the answer of 3 April 2014, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 780W.</p><p>There is more to do, but I hope this illustrates how this Government's long-term economic plan is helping build more houses, help people move on and up the housing ladder and clean up the mess left by the last Administration.</p><p> </p>
	creator	4023 label Biography information for Karen Lumley
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4023 label Biography information for Karen Lumley

34369

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	24/01/2014
	date	22/01/2014
	date tabled	22/01/2014
	ddp created	22/01/2014 23:40:40
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:20:13
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	184627
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	14/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average proportion of market rent of all affordable housing is in each London borough.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 184627
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	184627
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p> </p><p>I have placed in the Library of the House, a table showing affordable and social rents as a proportion of market rents, for each London borough.</p><p>The affordable rent model allows for more new affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels of taxpayer capital subsidy and by levering in more private investment. The programme is helping deliver £15 billion of private investment in new affordable housing over the current spending review, alongside £4.5 billion of public investment. Social rent and affordable rent go hand in hand; both help provide accommodation for those on low incomes.</p><p>As the National Audit Office has observed: “the Department selected the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “the Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of the social housing sector: introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012, <em>HC465,</em> pp.6-7).</p><p>I note in his recent Fabian Society pamphlet, the rt. hon. Member has complained that affordable rent would result in rents of 80 per cent of market rents in London. Whilst it varies by borough, as the table shows, for example, affordable rent levels are 38 per cent of average local market rents in Camden, 48 per cent in Islington, 54 per cent in Southwark and 35 per cent in Westminster, reflecting local circumstances.</p><p>I also observe that the housing policy announced at the Labour Party Conference in October 2012 also endorsed the use of affordable rents to build new homes; albeit this point is frequently lost on many Labour hon. Members who proceed to attack the basic principle of affordable rent in allowing more new affordable homes to be built using taxpayer capital subsidy.</p><p> </p>
	creator	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan