HOUSING SUPPLEMENT Weekly Parliamentary Round-up 25-31 January 2013
CONTENTS
PARLIAMENT
COMMONS DEBATE 30.01.2013: Housing Market Reform
COMMONS ORAL ANSWER 28.01.2013: Housing Benefit (1) 28.01.2013: Housing Benefit (2) 28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax (1) 28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax (2) 28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax (3)
COMMONS WRITTEN ANSWERS 24.01.2013: Housing: Copeland 24.01.2013: Mortgages: Arrears 24.01.2013: Housing Benefit 24.01.2013: Housing Benefits: Scotland 25.01.2013: Housing Benefit 28.01.2013: Housing: Greater London 28.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Foster Carers 28.01.2013: Housing Benefit 28.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Disability 29.01.2013: Mobile Homes 29.01.2013: Mortgages: Government Assistance 29.01.2013: Social Rented Housing 29.01.2013: Social Rented Housing: South Yorkshire 29.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Bolton 30.01.2013: Right to Buy Scheme 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit 30.01.2013: Social Rented Housing
COMMONS ORAL QUESTIONS 30.01.2013: Under-Occupancy 30.01.2013: Housing Starts 30.01.2013: Housing Starts 30.01.2013: Affordable Housing
COMMONS WRITTEN QUESTIONS 28.01.2013: Housing Providers 29.01.2013: Social Housing
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29.01.2013: Housing Benefit (1) 29.01.2013: Housing Benefit (2) 29.01.2013: Housing Benefit (3) 24.01.2013: Housing Demand 30.01.2013: Vacant Properties (1) 30.01.2013: Vacant Properties (2) 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit (1) 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit (2) 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit (3) 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit (4) 30.01.2013: Housing Benefit (5)
COMMONS EARLY DAY MOTION 29.01.2013: Under-Occupancy Penalty and the Vulnerable
LORDS ORAL ANSWERS 29.01.2013: Housing: New Homes Bonus
LORDS WRITTEN ANSWERS 28.01.2013: Housing: New Towns 29.01.2013: Housing: First-time Buyers
WHAT’S COMING UP In Parliament Events
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PARLIAMENT
COMMONS DEBATE
30.01.2013: Housing Market Reform – Debate (Ten Minute Rule Bill)
Gareth Thomas (Lab, Harrow West) introduced a ten minute rule Bill on housing market reform. Thomas explained that his Bill sought to amend section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 to extend the use of local occupancy clauses to certain urban areas with the permission of the Secretary of State; to increase the qualifying period of local occupancy clauses from three years to either five or ten years; to place a duty on the Homes and Communities Agency and local authorities with housing and planning responsibilities to promote co-operative and mutual housing options and report annually in this regard; and to require the Homes and Communities Agency, local authorities and the Land Registry to identify land available for housing development which has not been developed and to publish a report on the available options for development of housing on such land.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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COMMONS ORAL ANSWER
28.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Oral Answer (DWP)
1. Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): What estimate he has made of the number of households in Scotland affected by the new under-occupancy rules for housing benefit. [139384]
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb): The social sector size criteria, which will be introduced from April, will align housing benefit rules for those living in social sector accommodation with those already applied to claimants living in the private rented sector. We estimate that around 80,000 households in Scotland could be affected.
Dr Whiteford: The vast majority of tenants affected by this policy have no realistic prospect of finding a smaller, cheaper house. It also has many implications for devolved policy areas. Will the Minister ask the Secretary of State to show his respect for the Scottish Parliament by appearing in person before its Welfare Reform Committee?
Steve Webb: Obviously, the impact of housing benefit policy, which is a matter for the UK Parliament, will be different in different parts of the country. I have been to the
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Scottish Parliament and talked to the Deputy First Minister about welfare reform and we keep a dialogue open with our colleagues in Scotland.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con): Is it not the case that in Scotland and England as a whole getting on for 2 million families are in overcrowded accommodation? Is it not important that we think about their needs?
Steve Webb: My hon. Friend is right to bring forward the voice of those in overcrowded accommodation, which is all too often not heard in this debate. At the same time as we are paying housing benefit for approaching a million spare bedrooms, a quarter of a million households in overcrowded accommodation would love the opportunity to live in a larger house.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op): At the weekend, I spoke to one of my constituents in Scotland who has been a foster parent for 23 years and currently has four foster children, two of whom are in long-term placements. She fosters for one local authority and lives just over the border in another, which means that there is now considerable confusion about the discretionary payments. Would it not be much better if foster parents were exempted altogether?
Steve Webb: We recognise the special position of foster carers, which is why we allocated £5 million of discretionary housing payments so that local authorities can respond on a case-by-case basis to the needs of foster carers. We believe that that is a more flexible approach than a blanket exemption.
Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab): At the same time as millionaires are getting a tax cut, hundreds of thousands of Britain’s poorest families, people with disabled children, the terminally ill and the bereaved will be made poorer or forced to move. That risks increasing the benefits bill, as most will go into the private rented sector where rents are higher. However, I want to ask for a clear assurance about the brave men and women serving in the forces. Will the Minister assure the House that they and their families will have their rent covered 100%, that they will not lose a penny while they are away from home and that they will not be affected at all? Yes or no?
Steve Webb: On the hon. Gentleman’s point about millionaires, I gather they are hankering after the halcyon days when they used to pay only 40% income tax and 18% capital gains tax. On his point about service personnel, let me make it absolutely clear that in the case of a couple with a young adult who is going off to serve with the forces, when that young person leaves the home to serve on the front-line we cease to assume that they are making a rent contribution. When that person goes off to serve, the housing benefit will, in general, go up.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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28.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Oral Answer (DWP)
12. Mr Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) (Lab): What assessment he has made of the potential effect on low-income families of planned changes to housing benefit eligibility in respect of under-occupancy in the social rented sector. [139395]
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb): Our impact assessment shows that of the 3.4 million social sector tenants receiving housing benefit, up to 660,000 could potentially be affected by this measure.
Mr Hepburn: Do this Government ever get fed up of hammering the poor of this country? Punishing the poor seems to be the mandate that is running this Government. In my constituency, 2,000 households will lose anything up to 25% because of this bedroom tax. Will the Minister change this callous measure now, or will he wait until it becomes this Government’s poll tax and comes back to haunt them?
Steve Webb: If we leave aside the issue of people in his constituency who are living in over-crowded accommodation, who would very much like the opportunity to live in one of these houses, the hon. Gentleman will be aware that for many years under Labour people who rented in the private rented sector were not allowed a spare bedroom. Why is it fair not to allow private renters a spare bedroom, but to allow social tenants a spare bedroom?
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): Does the Minister agree that downsizing when people can no longer afford accommodation or when accommodation becomes too big is something that many people have had to do for many years? Would it not be perverse if the only people protected from what is a fact of life for many were those dependent on the state for their housing?
Steve Webb: My hon. Friend is right that ensuring that we make the best use of the scarce resource that is the social housing stock does involve people moving to smaller accommodation later on in life—although not pensioners, who we have exempted. Many of the best housing associations and councils are managing their housing stock better in response to this change.
David Wright (Telford) (Lab): The bedroom tax will have an impact on thousands of people in Telford. Many might want to move to smaller accommodation, but it is not available and the Government know it is not available. The policy is designed to penalise people—it is nothing to do with the housing market.
Steve Webb: There is a danger that this is viewed in a very static way. Many of the best housing associations are looking at groups of constituents, some of whom are over-
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 6 occupying and are overcrowded, and are moving people around to create space. In the longer term, we need a housing stock that better meets the needs of people on the waiting list, and it is time that successive Governments addressed that.
Mr John Leech (Manchester, Withington) (LD): Because of the shameful under- investment in social housing by the previous Government, there are simply not enough properties for people to downsize to. What assessment has my hon. Friend made of the number of families who will end up moving to smaller, more expensive accommodation and end up receiving more in housing benefit?
Steve Webb: My hon. Friend is right: successive Governments have failed to build enough affordable housing. It is worth stressing that moving is one option, but only one option, for those in work. Just two or three extra hours on the minimum wage would cover this deduction. There are a range of options—going into work, taking in a lodger or sub-letting—and good housing associations are working with their tenants to achieve best outcomes.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax - Topical Oral Question (DWP)
Mr Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab): The Minister will have read about the cases of Becky Bell raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) and of Angel Hooper, the disabled child whose parents have been told that they will lose £20 a week because her specially adapted room will not be shared with another family member. They are two of the 660,000 families being told they will have to fork out extra or move under the bedroom tax. Will he confirm how many one-bedroom properties will be needed for people to downsize to as the bedroom tax kicks in?
Steve Webb: You will be aware, Mr Speaker, that discretionary housing payments are being made available with a specific focus on the needs of severely disabled people—for example, where a house has been adjusted to reflect the needs of a disabled person. We have allocated money to local authorities precisely to cater for those whom it would be inappropriate to expect to move.
Mr Byrne: The Minister knows that 600,000 people will now need a one-bedroom flat, yet the Department’s own assessment states that there are insufficient properties to enable tenants to move to accommodation of an appropriate size, even if they want to move. From the beginning of April, therefore, people in social housing will face a £14 a week extra bill, when those on £1 million a year face a £2,000 a week tax cut. How can the Minister justify this to hon. Members such as the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who said that benefit cuts at a time of tax cuts of this order would send the
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“Conservatives were looking after vested interests: not so much a dog whistle— more a full blown trumpet.”?
Steve Webb: Given that the right hon. Gentleman mentions taxation, I will risk straying on to it, but quite why today’s millionaires would rather have our 45p rate than his 40p rate, or our 28% capital gains tax, rather than his 18% rate is beyond me.
On the right hon. Gentleman’s specific point, households will respond in a range of ways to the measure on under-occupation: moving is simply one of them; taking in a lodger or boarder, sub-letting, working or working more hours are others, and there are discretionary payments for those in most need.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax - Topical Oral Question (DWP)
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD): On the Government’s benefit changes for housing, foster carers have expressed their concern to me that they might be inhibited from doing their good work by the extra penalty for having a spare room. Can the Secretary of State or a Minister give me some reassurance that the amount of fostering that we currently have—and need—can continue without financial disadvantage?
Mr Duncan Smith: We are of course working closely with the Minister responsible at the Department for Education—the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson)—whose record on this is unimpeachable, as my right hon. Friend knows. He also should recognise that we have laid aside £5 million specifically to help with foster carers in the situation he described. However, we are in discussions with local authorities, county councils and the Department for Education about how best the money can be used to ensure that it specifically helps foster carers in this area, so that they suffer no hardship whatever, but can continue, and we can encourage more people to become foster carers.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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28.01.2013: Bedroom Tax - Topical Oral Question (DWP)
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab): DWP research suggests that over 42% of
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 8 people affected by the bedroom tax will not be able to pay the difference and will go into arrears instead. Given that DWP research, how many people does the Minister or the Secretary of State expect to lose their homes as a result of these crazy policies?
Mr Duncan Smith: We do not expect anybody to lose their homes as a result, but I must tell the hon. Gentleman that his Government sat for a large number of years without building any houses, watching housing benefit rise and people sitting on waiting lists to get houses, so crocodile tears from them now they are in opposition are a waste of time. We will sort the problem out, and I hope they will never be in government for a long time to come.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard (Full Text)
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COMMONS WRITTEN ANSWERS
24.01.2013: Housing: Copeland - Written Answer
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) new houses and (b) affordable houses were built in Copeland constituency in 2012. [139046]
Mr Prisk: Data on house building by local authority district can be found in live table 253 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building
Statistics on affordable housing supply by local authority district are available in tables 1008 and 1011, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
Data are collected only at local authority district level and are not available by parliamentary constituency.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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24.01.2013: Mortgages: Arrears - Written Answer
Bob Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will discuss with the banking sector measures to give flexibility to people with cancer who go into mortgage
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 9 arrears because of being unable to work during treatment. [138926]
Sajid Javid: The Government is determined that repossession is a last resort for lenders to take, whatever the reason for that individual entering arrears. This is set out in the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol.
The Government is also committed to supporting people who are diagnosed with cancer: homeowners who have a mortgage, and who receive income-based employment and support allowance (ESA)—a benefit that is intended for those who are ill or disabled, including those with cancer—may be entitled to support for mortgage interest (SMI).
SMI is intended to provide financial help towards mortgage costs of claimants, in order to help them to avoid mortgage arrears and subsequent repossession. It covers eligible interest on loans, up to prescribed capital limits, taken out to purchase a home and on certain home improvement loans.
Claimants who receive SMI as part of their ESA award do not have a time-limit applied to their SMI claim.
Autumn statement 2012 announced that temporary measures to increase the generosity of SMI to working-age claimants have been extended until 2015.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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24.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Answer
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of the housing benefit cap on people who will no longer be excluded due to the change in retirement age. [137578]
Steve Webb: The equalisation of women's state pension age with men's, the legislated rise in state pension age to 66, and the announced rise to age 67 were factored into the updated Benefit Cap Impact Assessment which was published on 16 July 2012 and the updated Equality Impact Assessment which was published on 23 July 2012.
The Impact Assessment can be accessed at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf and the Equality Impact Assessment at:
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http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-benefit-cap-wr2011.pdf
These changes in state pension age will not lead to the benefit cap affecting anyone who has reached state pension age on its introduction in April 2013.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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24.01.2013: Housing Benefits: Scotland - Written Answer
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the amount of housing benefit payments paid in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland has been in each of the last five years. [139049]
Steve Webb: Housing benefit expenditure by parliamentary constituency is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Housing benefit expenditure by local authority, region and country is on the table entitled “Tables showing benefit expenditure by country, region and local authority from 2000/01 to 2011/12" which can be accessed via the following URL:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php ?page=expenditure
Such information by parliamentary constituency that is available is on a new visualisation tool Stat-Xplore published at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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25.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Answer
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the potential effect of the introduction of size criteria in the social rented sector on population density in seaside towns with large numbers of houses in multiple occupation. [139234]
Mr Prisk: As the Department responsible for housing benefit, the Department for Work and Pension have published an impact assessment on the social sector size criteria on their website.
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Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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28.01.2013: Housing: Greater London - Written Answer
Mr Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each London borough spent on housing capital in each year between 2005- 06 and 2011-12; and how much was spent through (a) each local authority, (b) registered social landlords and (c) other providers. [137758]
Mr Prisk: A table has been placed in the Library of the House which shows capital expenditure on housing by each local authority in London from 2005-06 to 2011-12. It is not possible to say how much of this relates to registered social landlords or other providers.
These figures exclude spending by the Greater London Authority. I observe that the Mayor's proposed strategy states:
“£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011 -15.”
(Mayor of London, ‘The Revised London Housing Strategy', December 2011, p.35).
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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28.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Foster Carers - Written Answer
16. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on foster carers of changes to housing benefit; and if he will make a statement. [139399]
Esther McVey: The introduction of the social sector size criteria in April will affect around 5,000 foster carers. It is vital that this group are adequately protected.
An additional £5 million of discretionary housing payments has been allocated to those affected, and we are revising guidance for local authorities to ensure foster carers have ready access to this funding.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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28.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Answer
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact assessment he has made of the under-occupancy penalty. [139235]
Steve Webb: Both an impact and an equality impact assessment have been carried out on the effects of the under-occupancy measure on working age claimants in the social rented sector.
The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
The Equality Impact Assessment is available at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011.pdf
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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28.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Disability - Written Answer
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions the Minister for Disabled People has had with social housing representatives on the effects of the new housing benefit rules on disabled people. [139404]
Esther McVey: My ministerial colleagues and I are in regular contact with representatives from a range of organisations including social housing providers.
Our housing reforms will constrain the run-away growth in housing benefit expenditure which reached £23 billion in 2011-12.
From April 2013, social sector tenants of working age will be subject to an under- occupancy deduction. We do not believe that it is reasonable to ask the taxpayer to fund accommodation that is larger than the claimant's household need.
The size criteria rules have been successfully applied to housing benefit claimants renting in the private rented sector for a number of years. From April they will be extended to claimants renting in the social sector.
As a contingency measure we have added a further £30 million to the discretionary
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 13 housing payment fund to provide additional support for foster carers and disabled people living in significantly adapted homes.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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29.01.2013: Mobile Homes - Written Answer
Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of static park homes in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency. [138964]
Mr Prisk: This information is not held centrally.
The Department has made no official estimate, but industry figures suggest there are approximately 85,000 park homes on 2,000 sites in England and 5,000 homes on 100 sites in Wales.
Every local authority in England, Wales and Scotland is required, under section 25 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, to maintain a register of caravan (including static park home) sites in its area.
Responsibility for caravan site legislation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is devolved.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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29.01.2013: Mortgages: Government Assistance - Written Answer
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many successful applications were made to the New Buy scheme from people in (a) Don Valley constituency, (b) Doncaster borough or (c) South Yorkshire up to (i) 30 June 2012 and (ii) 31 December 2012. [139757]
Mr Prisk: The Department does not produce data on how many successful applications were made under the NewBuy scheme from people in (a) Don Valley constituency, (b) Doncaster borough or (c) South Yorkshire up to (i) 30 June 2012 and (ii) 31 December 2012.
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Official statistics were published on 27 September 2012 for the period 12 March-30 June 2012, including the number of properties sold in England under the scheme. The next official statistics, covering the third and fourth quarters of 2012 will be available on 27 March 2013.
The Home Builders Federation, one of the Government's key partners in the development and operation of NewBuy, recently announced that 3,000 reservations have been made under the scheme, and that the reservation rate in the first three weeks of 2013 is the highest since the scheme was launched last March.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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29.01.2013: Social Rented Housing - Written Answer
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which local authorities are currently not participating in the recording of data on new social housing lets; and what steps he will take to ensure future participation; [R] [134132]
(2) in what proportion of local authority new social housing lets made in London for the financial year 2011-12 the nationality of the tenant has been recorded; [134134]
(3) for what reason the question on the nationality of the new tenant in the CORE survey on social housing lets is optional; and if he will make that question compulsory. [R] [134135]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 17 December 2012]: In 2011-12, there were six local authorities who were not participating in recording data on new social housing lettings. These were: Birmingham city council, Portsmouth city council, London borough of Hackney, London borough of Newham, London borough of Lambeth and the London borough of Greenwich. The previous Minister for Housing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), wrote to the Leaders in May to highlight the importance of participation, and five of these local authorities are now actively providing, or finalising internal and database systems to provide, data. Importantly, this means that all London local authorities should be providing data from April 2013. Portsmouth city council is the remaining non-participating local authority. We will continue to monitor local authorities and provide continued practical support to Portsmouth and others to enable them to participate effectively.
Within the Continuous Recording of Lettings (CORE) data, tenant nationality data was recorded for 68% of reported social lettings in London in 2011-12. A further 19 % responded to this question but refused to give their nationality.
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The question on tenant nationality is voluntary. Local authorities may not be able to obtain this information about the tenant as they may not carry out tenant interviews to complete CORE and, when asked, some tenants do not wish to divulge their nationality. We are open to representations on this matter.
Most foreign nationals who have recently come to England are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Broadly speaking, European economic area nationals are eligible if they are working, self-sufficient, or have a permanent right of residence in the UK (after five years lawful residence in the UK). Other foreign nationals are not eligible for social housing unless they have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK with recourse to public funds (for example, people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection).
Where foreign nationals are eligible, they will have their housing needs considered on the same basis as other applicants in accordance with the local authority's allocation scheme.
In this context, the Localism Act gives back to councils the freedom to manage their own waiting list. They will be able to decide who should qualify for social housing in their area, and to develop solutions which make best use of limited social housing stock.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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29.01.2013: Social Rented Housing: South Yorkshire - Written Answer
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many successful home swaps had taken place under the Government's Home Swap Scheme involving a property in (a) Don Valley constituency, (b) Doncaster Borough or (c) South Yorkshire up to (i) 30 June 2012 and (ii) 31 December 2012. [139756]
Mr Prisk: “HomeSwap” Direct, the national home swap scheme, was launched in October 2011 to increase opportunities for tenants who wish to move home through a mutual exchange by allowing them to see details of every available property. Since the launch tenants have carried out over 2.8 million searches of the property data held on “HomeSwap” Direct.
Details of the number of moves that have taken place under the “HomeSwap” Direct scheme in (a) Don Valley constituency, (b) Doncaster borough or (c) South Yorkshire are not held centrally.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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29.01.2013: Housing Benefit: Bolton - Written Answer
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in (a) Bolton South East constituency and (b) Bolton that are in receipt of housing benefits which exceed £500 per week in total. [139657]
Steve Webb: The number of housing benefit (HB) recipients in Bolton local authority receiving HB in excess of £500 per week at August 2012 is nil or negligible.
Data are from SHBE, a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems and August 2012 is the latest available information.
The same information by parliamentary constituency is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Such information by parliamentary constituency that is available is on a new visualisation tool—Stat-Xplore—published at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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30.01.2013: Right to Buy Scheme - Written Answer
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on promoting the right to buy policy in each financial year of the present Parliament to date; and what it plans to spend on such promotion in each remaining financial year of the present Parliament. [140006]
Mr Prisk: The Department spent nothing on promoting the right to buy policy in 2010- 11. In the financial year 2011-12 a total of £17,728 was committed on right to buy products, mainly comprising new leaflets, summarising the reinvigorated scheme from 1 April 2012, for local authorities. and other social landlords to distribute to potentially eligible tenants, posters for landlords to display and reprinted application forms. To date DCLG has spent £1.14 million on promoting the right to buy policy in 2012-13, using direct mail as the primary channel. We are committed to ensuring that tenants are aware of the increased discount levels and their rights, and to help them come to well informed decisions about home ownership for them. Tenants cannot exercise their new
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 17 enhanced rights if they do not know about them.
Plans for further expenditure are not sufficiently firm to publish at this time and depend on results to date from the marketing activities.
To place this spending on marketing and advertising in context, DCLG has cut spending on marketing and advertising from £9.9 million in 2009-10, to £898,000 in 2010-11 and £980,000 in 2011-12.
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a geographical analysis of Government spending on promoting the right to buy policy, setting out (a) total spending and (b) purchase of advertising space by (i) local authority area and (ii) any other geographical area for which data is available. [140007]
Mr Prisk: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of today, PQ 140006, for total spending to date on promoting the Right to Buy policy. Advertising space was purchased in local newspapers and on poster sites in London and the West Midlands during July 2012. In addition, advertising space was purchased in social housing newsletters across the country. This initial targeting reflected high levels of council housing stock and the willingness of councils to work with us. The total costs for space (excluding printing and design costs) were: £334,796 for posters, £70,136 for newspaper advertising and £37,516 for space in social housing newsletters.
The posters and newspaper advertising appeared the following local authority areas: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Birmingham, Brent, Bromsgrove and Redditch, Camden, Cannock Chase, Croydon, Dudley, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hackney, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, North Warwickshire, Redbridge, Rugby, Sandwell, Shropshire, Southwark, Stoke on Trent, Solihull, Sutton, Tamworth, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Warwick, Welwyn and Hatfield, Westminster and Wolverhampton. Some advertising, such as online, was at a national level.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Answer
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the housing benefit claimants who will be affected by the restrictions on under-occupied social housing are in work in (a) the UK and (b) Wales. [140426]
Steve Webb: We estimate that from April 2013 140,000 housing benefit claimants in the
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UK will be affected by the under-occupancy change in the social rented sector, where either the claimant or their partner are in work.
We also estimate that in Wales around 40,000 working age housing benefit claimants will be affected. Data as to how many of these are in work is not available.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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30.01.2013: Social Rented Housing - Written Answer
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people affected by the under-occupancy changes in the social rented sector from April 2013 who will be in work. [140068]
Steve Webb: DWP estimate the number of housing benefit claimants affected by the under-occupancy changes in the social rented sector from April 2013 is about 140,000 where either the claimant or their partner will be in work.
Note: Estimate is rounded to the nearest 20,000.
Source: Policy Simulation Model (PSM) output based on family Resources Survey (FRS) data from 2009-10.
Source: Parliament: Commons Hansard
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COMMONS ORAL QUESTIONS
30.01.2013: Under-Occupancy - Oral Question [DCLG] (For answer on 4 February)
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East): What assessment he has made of the availability of accommodation for those who downsize as a result of the new under-occupancy rules for social housing.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Starts - Oral Question [DCLG] (For answer on 4 February)
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale): What steps he is taking to increase the number of housing
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 19 starts; and if he will make a statement.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Starts - Oral Question [DCLG] (For answer on 4 February)
Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich): What steps he is taking to increase the number of housing starts; and if he will make a statement.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Affordable Housing - Oral Question [DCLG] (For answer on 4 February)
Andrew George (St Ives): What plans he has to address demand for affordable rented and intermediate market housing in rural areas.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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COMMONS WRITTEN QUESTIONS
28.01.2013: Housing Providers - Written Question (For answer on 31 January)
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle Upon Tyne Central): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has taken steps to encourage mortgage holders to allow the leasing of their properties to a third party which is a registered housing provider.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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29.01.2013: Social Housing - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the siting of social housing development within the boundaries of park home sites populated by retired and disabled people.
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Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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29.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged (a) 16, (b) 17, (c) 18, (d) 19, (e) 20, (f) 21, (g) 22, (h) 23 and (i) 24 years old were in receipt of housing benefit in each year since 1997; and what the annual cost to the Exchequer was of such payments.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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29.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged between 16 and 35 and without children in each parliamentary constituency received housing benefit for a single dwelling in each financial year since 1997; and what the cost to the Exchequer was of such payments.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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29.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under the age of 25 years old whose parents earned between (a) £34,000 and £42,475, (b) £42,475 and £150,000 and (c) more than £150,000 per annum were in receipt of housing benefit in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the total amount received by such individuals was.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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24.01.2013: Housing Demand - Written Question (For answer on 5 February)
Martin Horwood (Cheltenham): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 698W, how local authorities which have exhausted the physical supply of land within their boundaries should meet housing demand in the event of irreconcilable
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 21 disagreement between themselves and neighbouring authorities.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Vacant Properties - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of vacant one and two bedroom properties owned by each (a) housing association and (b) local authority in the North West.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Vacant Properties - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of one and two bedroom properties owned by each (a) housing association and (b) local authority in the North West.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (No Date for Answer)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households claiming for housing benefit for a property with two or more bedrooms, in which the number of people living in the property was reduced over the course of the year due to the death of one of the occupants in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (For answer on 4 February)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents who are not registered as the main carer of their child
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 22 claim housing benefit for properties with two or more bedrooms in (a) Liverpool, (b) the North West and (c) the UK.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (For answer on 4 February)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many registered foster carers claim housing benefit for properties with two or more bedrooms in (a) Liverpool, (b) the North West and (c) the UK.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (For answer on 5 February)
Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households in (a) Liverpool, Riverside constituency and (b) Liverpool which will be affected by the under-occupancy changes to housing benefit due to come into effect in April 2013.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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30.01.2013: Housing Benefit - Written Question (For answer on 5 February)
Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average reduction in housing benefit for recipients resident in (a) Liverpool, Riverside constituency and (b) Liverpool following the under-occupancy changes due to come into effect in April 2013.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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COMMONS EARLY DAY MOTION
29.01.2013: Under-Occupancy Penalty and the Vulnerable (984)
Ann Coffey; Jim Sheridan
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That this House is concerned that withdrawing housing benefit from social housing tenants with unoccupied bedrooms will hit the poor, the vulnerable and the disabled hardest, unfairly penalises parents with sons and daughters in the armed forces living at home but away fighting for their country on the Afghanistan front line, takes no account of those who need specialist home care and threatens to disrupt the lives of children in the joint custody of divorced or separated parents; recognises that local authorities do not have enough one-bedroom housing stock available to enable those who can downsize to do so; and supports the Sunday People campaign calling on the Government to increase central funding for the discretionary housing allowance so that those unable to pay the bedroom tax do not become homeless.
Source: Parliament: Commons Order Paper
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LORDS ORAL ANSWERS
29.01.2013: Housing: New Homes Bonus - Lords Oral Answer
Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the regional impact of the New Homes Bonus.
Lord Greaves: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name and remind the House that I am a member of a local authority.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): My Lords, the new homes bonus is not a regional grant. It is allocated to individual local authorities based on increases in their housing stock. Councils that build more new homes receive more funding. My department no longer produces regional statistics, not least because policies such as the new homes bonus do not operate on a regional basis.
Lord Greaves: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that practical Answer. It is the same one that she gave me on a Written Question on the same issue. I was appalled to find that the Government no longer keep regional statistics and therefore do not know the regional impact of their policies. If the Government do not know, then I will provide the information.
Is the Minister aware that in relation to the new homes bonus, which is a grant given to local authorities, the three northern regions of England, the north-east, the north-west, and Yorkshire and Humberside, get on average per head of population £8.78 new homes bonus in the current year, and that the four southern regions, the east, London, the south-east and the south-west-
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Noble Lords: Question!
Lord Greaves: This is a question. The four southern regions get £15.07 per person in their regions, which is getting on for twice as much. Is it fair that this particular system is resulting in a movement of funding from the north to the south of England?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I am a little bit surprised by the noble Lord's statement, and particularly his suggestion that there is a per person sum involved in this. The new homes bonus is paid against the background of new homes. It is based on the number of homes that are provided in any particular area and on the average of the council tax base across the country. Where there is a number of band A properties, a certain amount of money will be produced, across the country, and bands G and H will produce the same. If I could just correct the noble Lord, in the top 30 recipients of the new homes bonus, there are seven in the north. Bradford, Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Salford, Sheffield and Wakefield are working hard and doing well.
Baroness Whitaker: My Lords, can the Minister say how much of the new homes bonus has been spent on sites for Gypsies and Travellers and, if she cannot, would she write to me?
Baroness Hanham: I cannot say specifically for a new home, but if new homes were being provided for Travellers, the new homes bonus would be paid. To the specific question about numbers, I will have to write to the noble Baroness.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: Can the Minister assure me that all councils are well informed of the existence of this bonus and understand what they have to do to get it?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I think that they are all more than aware. The new homes bonus has been an extremely important contribution to ensure that councils willingly accept new housing in their areas. This supports them, at least in terms of the housing provided, and gives them an incentive to ensure that new homes are built.
Lord Bates: Is my noble friend aware that in the north-east of England, the North Tyneside Council has used the new homes bonus to undertake a welcome £3.1 million refurbishment of a public library in North Shields? That is welcome, but is not the point of the new homes bonus to act as a catalyst for the construction industry? Will she therefore join me in welcoming the news that in the north-east of England new housing starts increased by 25% over the previous period last year, which is an increase of 47% over the period in 2009?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I am always grateful to my noble friend, because he knows the figures, and he has given them on several occasions. They show that the
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 25 north-east is in fact working very hard to produce new housing. Of course, he is right: the new homes bonus is not specifically given for housing; it is given as a contribution to areas where new housing has been built. Refurbishing a new library to help with the increased population seems to me to be a perfectly acceptable use of that money.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords, the noble Baroness said that the Government hold no national statistics on the impact of the new homes bonus. I wonder whether they have any statistics that show the impact on housing associations, region by region, of the bedroom tax. I speak as someone who lives in the Forest of Dean, and my own housing association, Two Rivers Housing, is being severely impacted by the bedroom tax.
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I have said that we do not keep regional statistics. We do not have regions any more; we have local areas. The regions are not recognised. We work on local areas now, which is far more exact and precise. I do not know the exact answer to the noble Baroness's question about bedroom tax, but I am very happy to write to her.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: My Lords, I am fascinated to discover that part of the country I live in is no longer recognised by the Government, but I am not surprised. Will the Minister accept that I live in the north-west of England, as does the noble Lord, Lord Greaves? Would she care to provide the House with figures on the impact of the RSG, plus the housing association grant, plus the new homes allowance, across the area which the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, and I live in?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, if I can find such figures, I will provide them.
Baroness Brinton: My Lords, is it not true to say that we have to collect data on a regional basis for submission to the EU? I am somewhat perplexed by the Minister's response.
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, the Department for Communities and Local Government works on the basis of areas. There might be other parts of the Government that work on a regional basis, but the DCLG does not.
Lord Greaves: My Lords, is it not the case that the south-west gets twice as much per head of this new homes bonus as either the north-east or the north-west, and that London gets more than twice as much? These are the facts, and the Government cannot deny that there is a transfer of resources from the north of England to the south of England through this bonus. Is that not right?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I am afraid that the noble Lord is not correct about the basis of the new homes bonus. I have explained to the House that the bonus is based on the average across the country of council tax bands. In the north of England, the
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 26 chances are that the councils provided are in band A, and in the south of England it is very possible that they are provided in bands E, G and H. Consequently, of course, the sums will be larger in some areas than in others, but then, of course, the cost of living is different across this country.
Source: Parliament: Lords Hansard
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LORDS WRITTEN ANSWERS
28.01.2013: Housing: New Towns - Lords Written Answer
Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to comments by the Deputy Prime Minister on 22 November in a speech at the National House Building Council, whether they plan to enable development of a new generation of new towns and cities in England "drawing inspiration from the garden cities"; if so, what are the mechanisms through which they will be built; whether they have identified any possible locations for new towns and cities in England; and, if so, whether any of them are on sites previously identified as suitable for ecotowns. [HL3879]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): Reflecting commitments made in both coalition parties' general election manifestos and in the coalition agreement, the coalition Government have scrapped top-down Whitehall planning. This has included ending the last Government's so-called eco-towns programme.
The eco-town programme was unsuccessful, with developers abandoning the process, a series of judicial reviews and the timetable being extended again and again. Additionally, there was significant local opposition to many of these proposals and none was built under the last Government. Despite a Whitehall target of 10 eco- towns, none was ever built under the last Government.
This Government want to work with local communities to build more homes, and promote sustainable development. This is being supported by programmes such as the New Homes Bonus, Growing Places Fund and Get Britain Building. There is also a role for more bespoke assistance to unlock and kick start locally supported, locally led, large- scale sites suitable for housing..
As the first example of this approach, in August 2012, my department worked with local partners to remove barriers to the regeneration of former chalk pits at Eastern Quarry, Ebbsfleet, which will deliver around 22,600 homes in the years to come. This involved renegotiating planning obligations and the Highways Agency supporting necessary road improvements.
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As a further example, in December 2012, we announced a £20 million injection of funding for the new town of Cranbrook, near Exeter. This will enable local partners to bring forward the delivery of new homes included in the local plan, and create 1,500 jobs in the town that will include 6,000 homes and a new rail station with links to London and Exeter.
We are keen to promote garden city design, as outlined in speeches by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and my honourable friend, the Minister for Planning (Nick Boles); the latter's recent speech on planning and design, and the merits of garden city design, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/speeches/town-and- country-planning-association-conference-speech.
Garden city design is also encouraged in the National Planning Policy Framework.
We are in discussions with a number of local authorities and their partners about delivering well designed places with the attributes that people most value, such as quality, gardens, green space, community facilities and good local amenities.
The Autumn Statement announced £515 million of new funding to accelerate the delivery of a further wave of locally supported, locally led, large sites, including using surplus public sector land and property. We will make further announcements in due course.
Source: Parliament: Lords Hansard
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29.01.2013: Housing: First-time Buyers - Lords Written Answer
Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the average deposit needed for a first-time house buyer in (1) South Basildon and East Thurrock parliamentary constituency, (2) the Basildon local authority area, and (3) England. [HL4571]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): The department publishes data on average dwelling prices and mortgage advances by type of buyer, based on data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in Housing Statistics Live Table 516. This includes figures up to 2011 for England but not for constituency or district level. The table is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1070 1/141284.xls.
The NewBuy Guarantee scheme has brought 95% loan to value mortgages for new build
Guardian-SW1A.net Weekly Parliamentary Housing Supplement Page 28 properties back to the market. NewBuy is for both first-time buyers and existing home owners.
Source: Parliament: Lords Minute
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WHAT’S COMING UP
In Parliament
4.02.2013 CLG Questions Ministers from the Department for Communities and Local Government will take oral questions in the Commons. Source: Parliament
4.02.2013 House Building Lord Knight of Weymouth will ask an oral question on how many affordable homes have been built in rural areas since 2010. Source: Parliament
7.2.2013 Social Housing Baroness King of Bow will ask an oral question on what plans the Government have to improve the social housing stock during 2013. Source: Parliament
Events
6.02.2013: DCLG releases rough sleeping statistics for England, autumn 2011 The Department for Communities and Local Government is scheduled to release at 09:30: Rough Sleeping Statistics England - Autumn 2012. Source: DCLG
7.02.2013: DCLG publishes English housing survey The Department for Communities and Local Government is scheduled to publish: English Housing Survey - Headline Report 2011-12 at 09:30. Source: DCLG
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