Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of empty homes in (a) the West Midlands region, (b) City of Wolverhampton local authority area and (c) Wolverhampton North East constituency in each year since 2010; and what steps he is taking the reduce the number of empty homes.
Answered by Esther McVey
The most recent estimate of the number of long-term empty homes shows that at October 2018 there were 10,084 homes that had been empty for more than six months in the West Midlands Metropolitan County, and 1,401 that had been empty for more than six months in the City of Wolverhampton. Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district, from which regional totals may be calculated, are published in the Department's live table 615 which is available at the link below. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes, those vacant for longer than six months and also vacant properties in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures. Statistics on vacant dwellings at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected
Local authorities are equipped with powers and have strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Since 1 April 2019, via the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018, local authorities have the discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax. Through the New Homes Bonus, local authorities earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years in order to bring it back into use.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government provides ring-fenced funding to local authorities to spend on supporting women's refuges.
Answered by Luke Hall
MHCLG does not currently provide ring-fenced funding to local authorities to spend on supporting women's refuges. Through the local government settlement, funding is provided to local authorities which they can spend on local domestic abuse services in line with their local priorities.
Since 2014 the Department has additionally invested £55.5 million in services to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges.
MHCLG has recently consulted on a new statutory duty which would require local authorities to assess the need for and commission support for victims and their children in safe accommodation.
The consultation closed on 2 August. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation on support within safe accommodation and will be publishing a full government response in due course.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of women's refuges operating in England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department does not hold centrally the number of women's refuges operating in England in each year since 2010.
MHCLG has recently consulted on a new statutory duty which would require local authorities to robustly assess the need for and commission support for victims and their children in safe accommodation.
The consultation closed on 2 August. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation on support within safe accommodation and will be publishing a full government response in due course.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of homes purchased using the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in Wolverhampton North East constituency in each year since that policy was introduced.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Data on Help to Buy: Equity Loan is not available by constituency but is published by local authority.
For Wolverhampton, total completions from April 2013 to December 2018 were 1,116.
Further detail is in Table 1 of the official quarterly statistics to end December 2018 (Wolverhampton is at line 138):
Totals by year for Wolverhampton were:
2013 - 99
2014 - 196
2015 - 188
2016 - 218
2017 - 203
2018 - 212
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds records on the number of public toilets in (a) England and (b) Wolverhampton.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Department does not hold data on the number of public toilets in England. Whilst the provision of public toilets is a matter for local authorities, we encourage councils to keep these important amenities open. At Budget 2018 the Chancellor announced a 100 per cent business rates relief for public lavatories in England, and the Government will introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows. In addition the Department recently launched a consultation proposing changes to Building Regulations to create more Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many landlords who own properties in Wolverhampton North East constituency are on the Government's register of rogue landlords.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
No landlords that own properties in Wolverhampton North East are on the database of rogue landlord and property agents which records landlords and agents who have received banning orders.
Banning orders are for the most prolific and serious offenders and were introduced on 6 April 2018. An offence must have been committed on or after that date, and a conviction subsequently secured, before a local authority can apply to the courts for a banning order.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many times the rough sleeping and homelessness reduction taskforce has met in 2018; what the current membership is of the taskforce; and how many changes to have membership have taken place since the announcement of the taskforce; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Taskforce met for the first time on 7 March 2018 and has met regularly since. Membership of Government Taskforce’s can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cabinet-committees-system-and-list-of-cabinet-committees. There have been no formal changes of membership, although attendance varies in response to Ministerial availability and appointments.