HC Deb 29 January 2002 vol 379 cc171-2W
21. Mr. Breed

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to tackle shortages of affordable housing in rural areas. [28457]

Ms Keeble

As we said in the Rural White Paper, we expect to deliver around 9,000 new affordable homes annually in rural areas by 2003–04. This is possible in large partly because of a near doubling in the Housing Corporation's budget from 2000–01 levels to over £1.2 billion by 2003–04.

We are consulting on proposals to replace the present system of negotiated planning obligations with a tariff-based approach. We expect this to secure more affordable housing generally, including in rural areas.