§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what account he will take of the effect of the judgment in Reginav. the London Borough of Newham ex parte Aurura Sacupima and Others in the measures he proposes to take to assist London boroughs to house homeless people within their boundaries. [103617]
§ Mr. MullinThe judgment in the case of Aurura Sacupima and Others ex parte the London Borough of Newham is one of a number of issues that will be taken into account in considering what measures can be proposed to ease the current shortage of affordable accommodation in London.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he proposes to take to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation in London. [103615]
§ Mr. MullinThe Government recently announced a £613 million package of capital resources for investment in housing by London boroughs in 2000–01. This represents a 54 per cent. increase over 1999–2000 and accords with spending plans arising from the Comprehensive Spending Review. The additional resources will enable London boroughs to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation by increasing the supply of affordable housing in their areas.
In addition, the Government are supporting the Association of London Government's London Housing Partnership initiative to set aside £20 million of London borough's increased housing capital allocations to enable the problem of homelessness and temporary accommodation to be approached on a pan-London basis.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the factors contributing to current shortages of low-cost accommodation in London. [103614]
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§ Mr. MullinThe current shortage of affordable housing in London is due to the combined effect of a number of factors including:
Recent net increases in London's population, with those moving in tending to be younger and seeking economic opportunities;A reduction in the supply of privately rented accommodation as landlords opt to sell to take advantage of rising house prices in London;A fall in turnover of social housing as social tenants are less able to purchase in the private sector;A reduction in the amount of socially rented accommodation through the Right to Buy, less development by registered social landlords than in recent years and short-term reductions as a result of regeneration activity.Officials continue to monitor the situation closely.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what resources he proposes to allocate to tackle shortages of affordable housing in London in addition to the funding currently allocated through the Housing Investment Programme. [103616]
§ Mr. MullinA total of £275 million will be provided through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme for the provision of additional accommodation by registered social landlords (RSLs) in London in 2000–01; the announcement of allocations to local authority areas will be made in February. Increases in the supply of affordable housing will also be funded through local authorities housing capital programmes and can be achieved in a variety of different ways. The 2000–01 Housing Investment Programme (HIP) allocations to London Boroughs announced earlier this month included an earmarked £20 million for an initiative mainly for purchase and repair of existing properties in and around London. The total HIP allocation for London for 2000–01 (£613 million) is over 50 per cent. more than in 1999–2000.
§ Ms MoranTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on Government policies to combat homelessness. [103127]
§ Mr. MullinShortly after taking office, the Government made secondary legislation to strengthen the position of households accepted as statutorily homeless. This ensures that accommodation must be available for all homeless acceptances for at least two years and that they must be given reasonable preference in the allocation of long-term social housing.
The Government intend to meet their Manifesto commitment to impose a new duty on local authorities to protect those who are homeless through no fault of their own and are in priority need. My Department has set up an official-level sounding board with the local authority associations, Shelter, the Chartered Institute of Housing and other housing organisations, to discuss proposals for further changes to policy on homelessness and the allocation of permanent social housing. Our proposals are still at an early stage, but we shall consult on them widely, in due course.
On 15 December, the Prime Minister launched "Coming in from the Cold", the Government's strategy for tackling rough sleeping. This sets out how the 536W Government intend to meet their target of reducing rough sleeping by two thirds by 2002. Copies are available in the Library.