HC Deb 26 February 2002 vol 380 cc1164-6W
Mr. Kidney

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many affordable housing units have been built in each year since 1997(a) with social housing grant, (b) with local authority social housing grant and (c) with no public funding (i) in England and (ii) in rural districts. [35160]

Ms Keeble

Information on points(a) and (b) is given in the following table. Provisional data on point (c) were collected for the first time covering last year, but returns were incomplete. We have made changes to this year's return to encourage more complete reporting.

Affordable housing units build in England
Units funded through Social Housing Grant:
(a) Housing Corporation (b) Local Authority
1997–98
Deep rural 1,128 894
Mixed rural 4,172 2,427
All rural authorities 5,300 3,321
All authorities 29,551 10,161
1998–99
Deep rural 823 718
Mixed rural 4,181 1,764
All rural authorities 5,004 2,482
All authorities 28,207 9,714
1999–2000
Deep rural 734 728
Mixed rural 3,197 1,652
All rural authorities 3,931 2,380
All authorities 23,568 8,396
2000–01
Deep rural 802 478
Mixed rural 3,190 1,532
All rural authorities 3,992 2,010
All authorities 20,867 8,081

Note:

  1. 1. Completions in respect of any schemes originally approved prior to 1996–97. Involving both Housing Corporation and Local Authority Social Housing Grant Support will be counted under both headings, but cannot be distinguished.
  2. 2. Affordable housing schemes comprise those for rent (including tariff and mixed funded schemes); temporary social housing schemes (including MiniHag, and short-life housing); and shared or outright ownership schemes (including leasehold for the elderly).

Source:

Housing Corporation returns

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to increase the availability of affordable housing. [37177]

Ms Keeble

The Government recognise the pressures on affordable housing in many parts of the country. We are taking a number of steps to address this.

We are significantly increasing the resources available for the provision of additional affordable housing. By 2003–04, funding for the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme will be almost double last year's level, at £1.2 billion.

We are also providing £250 million through the Starter Home Initiative to help some 10,000 key workers in high demand areas to purchase a home.

In addition, we are consulting on proposals to replace the present system of negotiated planning obligations with a tariff-based approach. We expect this to increase the provision of affordable housing through the planning process.

We have also established the Affordable Housing Unit to work closely with partners and stakeholders to improve delivery of affordable housing over the next three years. This work will concentrate on expanding development opportunity, speeding up negotiation and approval of schemes, increased funding, and making better use of the existing housing stock.

Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has for the(a) provision and (b) development of affordable housing in the Greater London area. [37109]

Ms Keeble

Over the next two years we are making available an additional £300 million above current levels for the provision of affordable housing in London. In 2001–02 the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme will invest £338 million in London, rising to £411 million in 2002–03 and £545 million in 2003–04.

We are also providing £146 million through the Starter Home Initiative to help key workers in London to purchase a home. We expect about 2,300 nurses and other health workers, 1,600 teachers, 550 police and 200 other key workers to benefit, mainly through shared ownership or equity loans. In addition, 4,000 units of affordable rental accommodation for health staff are being provided by the NHS's Housing Co-ordinator, mainly in London and the South East.

We have also established the Affordable Housing Unit to work closely with partners and stakeholders to improve delivery of affordable housing over the next three years, particularly in areas of acute pressure on housing such as London. This work will concentrate on expanding development opportunity, speeding up negotiation and approval of schemes, increased funding, and making better use of the existing housing stock.

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the accuracy of his Department's figures for annual provision of new affordable housing units; and what representations he has received on them from interested organisations. [37082]

Ms Keeble

The Housing Corporation monitors Approved Development Programme and Local Authority Social Housing Grant scheme approvals and completions. We are satisfied with the accuracy of these figures.

Local authorities are now asked to provide summary information on all affordable housing activity as part of their annual Housing Investment Programme returns and we are dependent on the accuracy of the figures they supply. On the basis of their first responses on last year's return, we believe that there may have been under-reporting of Registered Social Landlord provision, and there are changes to this year's return with the aim of improving the accuracy.

Over the past three months, Ministers have replied to 26 letters and five parliamentary questions on the provision of affordable housing units. Over the same period, Lord Falconer, Minister for Housing, has discussed rural affordable housing in several meetings with the Countryside Agency. He has also discussed affordable housing with the National Housing Forum, and visited the Priory Heights Community Housing Project in London. In addition, I attended a debate on affordable housing in South Gloucestershire.