§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will identify those elements of the resources listed in Annex A of the paper, Sustainable Communities, that724W will provide funding for investment in (a) repairs and improvements to council housing, (b) repairs and improvements to housing owned by registered social landlords and (c) the provision of new homes for rent. [98159]
§ Mr. McNultyFrom 2004–05 resources that were provided to local authorities for their Housing Investment Programme, and resources provided to the Housing Corporation will be put into a single regional housing pot. Final decisions on the allocation of resources will be made based on advice from the new Regional Housing Boards (RHBs). The figures shown are those we used in building up the totals and may not be the final figures.
(a) Money for improvements to Council housing includes
- (i) The funding shown in the third line of the table for Arms Length Management Organisations (£1,994 million over the next three years);
- (ii) A share of the housing investment programme (HIP) money that forms part of the totals in the first two lines of the table. In 2003–04 HIP amounts to £842 million. Only a proportion of this will be used to support improvements to Council housing. HIP is also used to fund improvements to private housing, and provision of new affordable housing. HIP resources go into the local authority single capital pot for use at the discretion of the LA. But on past trends about one third of HIP funding will be used to support council housing improvements. From 2004–05 this funding becomes part of the single regional housing pot.
- (iii) In addition £685 million of new PFI credits were announced in Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future. These are not included in the funds shown in Annex A.
- (iv) The Major Repairs Allowance was introduced in 2001 and gives local authorities the funding required to maintain the condition of their stock. This is provided through the housing revenue account and does not appear in the figures in Annex A. It will total over £4 billion over the next three years.
(b) Funding for improvements to RSL housing
RSLs fund the vast majority of their repairs and improvements from rental income or by borrowing privately. But the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme provides for some £40 million next year to fund improvements. This funding will be included in the single regional housing pot from 2004–05.
(c) Funding for new homes to rent
The single regional housing pots shown in the first two lines of the table in Annex A include funding for the Housing Corporation for new affordable homes. In addition some of the HIP resources, and some of the funding in the transitional arrangements line, will be used for the provision of affordable homes by RSLs. In total we are providing some £5 billion over the next three years for affordable housing, though the precise figure allocated will depend on advice from the RHBs. 725W Not all of this funding will support homes to rent——some will support low cost home ownership. Again the precise split will be subject to advice from the RHBs, but the majority will be invested in homes to rent
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many days on average people were on the waiting list for social housing in(a) England and (b) each local authority defined as rural by region, who were (i) defined as in priority need and (ii) others, in each year since 1978. [98494]
§ Mr. McNultyInformation on length of time spent on waiting list for social housing is available from the Survey of English Housing for 2000–01 and 2001–02, but not for earlier years. (Information is not collected that identifies households that were classified as in priority need). In the table data for the two survey years has been combined in order to provide a larger sample size.
Average time waited to be allocated social housing accommodation: England 2001–01 and 2001–02 Type of local authority Average length of time waited——days Rural 426 Urban 370 All (England) 379 Source
Survey of English Housing