§ Baroness Birkasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which districts have applied for designation as rural areas under the 1980 Housing Act; which have been designated; which have not been designated and on what grounds was the decision reached in each case;
On what grounds they decided to use density of population as a "rule of thumb" criterion in deciding which applications for designation as a rural area under the 1980 Housing Act to allow; and why they have chosen to use the figure of two per hectare; and
What they consider to be relevant considerations when assessing applications for designation as a rural area under the 1980 Housing Act; and what is the relative weight given to each consideration.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellvvin)In considering applications for designation under Section 19 of the 1980 Act, my right honourable friend has had particular regard to rurality and to the incidence of second homes. Beyond that, no specific weighting has been attached to the various factors taken into account: representations from authorities have been considered on their individual merits.
There is no standard definition of the rural areas. Density of population provides the obvious basis on which to draw a broad distinction between urban and rural areas, and the benchmark of two persons per hectare is one which has been used for this purpose by bodies with a particular interest in rural matters. Information about the incidence of second homes is obtained from Census returns.
Attached are 21 authorities in England whose districts have been designated under Section 19, in whole or in part: and 107 authorities whose applications for designation have been rejected. Since my right honourable friend's decision has been based on a detailed consideration of each authority's representations, it is not practicable to list reasons for the decision in each case.
My right honourable friend will of course consider a further application for designation if an authority considers that circumstances have changed or new 142WA information has become available since its previous application was rejected.
To avoid misunderstanding, I should add that the Government have withdrawn the proposal made recently in the context of the Housing and Building Control Bill, that my right honourable friend should have a power similar to that in Section 19 to designate rural areas for the purposes of excluding elderly persons' dwellings from the right to buy. Revised proposals for the elderly which were approved in another place on 12th June and are now before this House do not require any distinction to be drawn in this context between the urban and rural areas. The Bill contains no proposals that affect the Secretary of State's power of designation under Section 19 of the Housing Act 1980.
1. Areas designated under Section 19 of the Housing Act 1980 (in whole or in part) Alnwick DC North Norfolk DC Berwick upon Tweed BC Penwith DC Caradon DC Purbeck DC Carrick DC Restormel BC East Devon DC South Hams DC Eden DC South Lakeland DC Kerrier DC Teignbridge DC Mid Devon DC Torridge DC New Forest DC West Dorset DC North Cornwall DC West Somerset DC North Devon DC Total: 21 143WA
2. Applications rejected Allerdale DC Maidstone BC Arun DC Maldon DC Ashford BC Malvern Hills DC Babergh DC Medina BC Barnsley BC Mendip DC Basingstoke and Deane BC Middlesbrough BC Beverley BC Mid Suffolk DC Braintree BC Newark DC Bridgnorth DC Newbury DC Carlisle CC Newcastle-under-Lyme BC Castle Morpeth BC North Dorset DC Charnwood BC North Warwickshire BC Chester CC North West Leicestershire DC Cleethorpes BC North Wiltshire DC Colchester BC Oxford CC Congleton BC Pendle BC Copeland BC Peterborough CC Cotswold DC Preston BC Craven DC Redditch BC Crewe and Nantwich BC Ribble Valley BC Dacorum DC Richmondshire DC Dartford DC Rother DC Dover DC Rushcliffe BC East Cambridgeshire DC Rutland DC East Hampshire DC Ryedale DC Ellesmere Port and Neston BC St. Edmundsbury BC Epping Forest DC Salisbury DC Forest Heath DC Scarborough BC Forest of Dean DC Sedgemoor DC Gedling BC Sevenoaks DC Glanford BC Sheffield CC Guildford BC Shrewsbury and Atcham DC Hambleton DC South Bucks DC Harborough DC South Cambridgeshire DC Harrogate BC South Derbyshire DC Hart DC South Herefordshire DC Hartlepool BC South Holland DC Horsham DC South Shropshire DC Huntingdon DC South Staffordshire DC Kennet DC South Wight BC Kingswood DC Stroud DC Kirklees MBC Suffolk Coastal DC Leeds CC Tandridge DC Leominster DC Taunton Deane BC
Teesdale DC Wellingborough BC Tewkesbury BC West Derbyshire DC Thamesdown BC West Lindsey DC The Wrekin DC West Wiltshire DC Tunbridge Wells BC Wimborne DC Tynedale DC Winchester CC Warwick DC Woodspring DC Waverley DC Wycombe DC Wealden DC Wyre Forest DC Wear Valley DC Total: 107 Note: An application from West Devon DC was withdrawn before a decision was reached.