Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many tenants of (a) councils and (b) social landlords have exercised the right to buy, voluntary or otherwise, in each year since 2005, by (i) parliamentary constituency and (ii) local authority area.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We maintain our commitment to the Right to Buy for council tenants. Right to Buy gives people from a broad sector of the community the opportunity to own their home, encouraging stronger links and a wider interest in their local communities.
The Government is grateful for the participation of the Midlands housing associations in piloting the VRTB and for the valuable partnership working with the sector. This has enabled over 1,800 housing association tenants to become homeowners, and enjoy the benefits that homeownership brings. The Government is looking at the findings from the Midlands evaluation, which will be used to help inform future policy. We will announce further details on Voluntary Right to Buy in the coming months.
The statistics on local authority Right to Buy sales, as well as information on the total number of sales to tenants by local authority area (which includes Right to Acquire and other social landlord schemes) can be found in the open data here: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales#social-housing-sales-open-data.
There is no information by parliamentary constituency, as it is all collected by local authority area.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much each local authority has saved as a direct result of the abolition of non-domestic rates on public lavatories.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The value of the relief is estimated to be worth around £6 million p.a. to eligible public lavatories in England. This includes both privately or publicly occupied public lavatories, we do not hold data on the split of support between privately and publicly occupied public lavatories.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the budget was of the Pocket Parks scheme; and how much of that funding was allocated.
Answered by Luke Hall
In 2019-2020 a total of £1.35 million was made available for Pocket Parks, of which £1,343,653.33 was allocated.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to re-open the Pocket Parks scheme to new applications.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government recognises the value of parks and green spaces in providing vibrant and inclusive locations for communities to socialise, volunteer, work, and exercise. We have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic how important access to parks and green spaces are to local communities. We recognise that green spaces foster health, well-being, integration, and social engagement. There are no immediate plans to continue the Pocket Parks Scheme. However, as we move beyond the threat of COVID-19, we will explore how we can best support all urban parks and green spaces, taking into account the Government’s environmental, social, and health priorities.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications were (a) made and (b) successful to the Pocket Parks fund in (i) each local authority area and (ii) Parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Luke Hall
Details of Pocket Parks funding recipients can be found in the public domain at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/68-new-parks-to-inject-green-space-into-urban-areas.