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Written Question
Empty Property
Tuesday 17th March 2015

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of long-term empty properties in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) Lancashire and (d) Pendle constituency.

Answered by Stephen Williams

Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and by local authority are published in the Department’s Live Table 615, which is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants

My Department does not publish regional statistics.

I would note that under this Government, the number of long-term empty homes has fallen by a third from the base line of 316,251 in October 2009 to 216,050 in October 2013. The number of empty homes overall is at a ten year low.

The Coalition Government has delivered a comprehensive package of policies to help get empty homes and buildings back into use. We have:

  • provided over £200 million to fund innovative schemes run by community groups, councils and housing associations up and down the country to bring empty properties back into use. So far, our funding has enabled local groups to create almost 6,000 new homes from empty property – providing apprenticeship and training opportunities as well as more homes and better neighbourhoods for local people – with the potential to deliver more.

  • Rewarded councils for bringing 100,000 empty homes back into use through the New Homes Bonus;

  • Given councils new powers to remove council tax subsidies to empty homes, and use the funds to keep the overall rate of council tax down. We have also changed tax rules to discourage the use of corporate envelopes to invest in high value housing which may be left empty or under-used to avoid paying tax;

  • Cancelled the Labour Government’s Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes, instead of focusing on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use; and revoked associated pro-demolition guidance from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister;

  • Taken forward the best practice recommendations produced by our independent empty homes adviser, George Clarke—such as refurbishment and upgrading of existing homes should be the first and preferred option, and that demolition of existing homes should be the last option after all forms of market testing and options for refurbishment are exhausted; we have embedded these principles in our housing programme funding schemes;

  • Reformed Community Infrastructure Levy regulations to provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, extending exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into use. We have reduced Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.

  • Introduced the Right to Contest, building on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new right applies to central Government sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations.

  • Amended national planning policy through the National Planning Policy Framework to encourage councils to bring back empty properties back into use;

  • Funded a new business rates reoccupation relief to help bring empty shops back into use; and

  • Reformed permitted development rights in a number of ways to free up the planning system and facilitate the conversion of redundant and under-used non-residential buildings into new homes.
Written Question
Parish Councils: Publications
Monday 27th October 2014

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many complaints his Department has received in the last five years of town and parish councils breaching their statutory responsibility to publish minutes; and which such councils have been the subject of the most complaints.

Answered by Kris Hopkins

My Department receives correspondence on a wide range of issues about Parish Councils.

Complaints or concerns regarding a parish council’s behaviour can be made in a number of ways; by utilising the parish council’s complaints procedure, raising the matter at a parish meeting, pointing out concerns during the public inspection period of accounts for the audit, or by joining with a group of local electors to call for a parish poll on the issue. It is for the parish council concerned to consider the evidence raised in any of the above public representation and to take action inline with statute and their standing orders/complaints procedures.

In addition, parish councils, like all tiers of government, must act within the law at all times, if a decision is considered unlawful, it may be challenged by the courts. Ultimately, if a council fails to carry out its statutory duties it will be accountable for its actions and decisions through the ballot box.

Our proposed Transparency Code for parish councils and smaller authorities seeks to increase the openness and accessibility of council papers and minutes by making them accessible online.

Written Question
Parish Councils: Publications
Wednesday 15th October 2014

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many town and parish councils have breached their statutory responsibility to publish minutes in the last three years.

Answered by Kris Hopkins

My Department does not hold this data. Our proposed Transparency Code for parish councils and smaller authorities seeks to increase the openness and accessibility of council papers and minutes by making them accessible online.

Written Question
Terrorism
Friday 12th September 2014

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will have discussions with religious groups on reintroducing a National Day of Prayer to reflect on the terrorist threats the UK faces.

Answered by Stephen Williams

The Government recognises the contribution that people of faith can make to their own local communities and to wider society. Freedom of religious observance for all citizens is a fundamental principle of a free society and people draw on a range of sources to define and express their identity. The Government has no overarching role in regulating personal belief or faith. There are already several international days of prayer, i.e. All Saints Day and Women’s World Day of Prayer.

As well as these, faith leaders regularly come together to pray for specific issues. Recently, Lord Ahmad took part in a prayer vigil at Westminster Cathedral for Iraq with leading members of faith communities from around the country.

Written Question
Help to Buy Scheme: North West
Wednesday 11th June 2014

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average price has been for houses sold under (a) the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and (b) the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in (i) the North West, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) Pendle.

Answered by Kris Hopkins

a) Data on the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee scheme are published by the Treasury. Figures to 31 March 2014 are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-march-2014

b) For the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, figures for the average purchase price of properties are available at district council level, with the most recent official statisics relating to sales under the scheme to 30 April 2014.

(i) As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report, Column 32WS, my Department no longer publishes statistics by government office region

(ii) The average figure for that period across the twelve district council areas of Lancashire is £176,888. The figure for Lancashire can be compared with a national average of £205,424, as published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics.

(iii) In Pendle, only one sale had been completed by 30 April 2014, and so quoting the average figure for that area would lead to disclosure of the purchase price of that property. This might be regarded as creating an unacceptably high risk of disclosing personal data and a statistical distortion.

Figures for the numbers of sales under the Help to Buy equity loan scheme as at 30 April 2014 broken down by local authority and postcode sector are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics. I have also placed a copy of the table in the Library of the House .