Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many hostel places for the homeless there were in (a) London and (b) each London borough on 1 October in each year since 2008.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of places in hostels for rough sleepers in London. It is for London boroughs to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area, including provision of suitable accommodation.
This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. One person without a home is one too many. That is why since 2010 we have invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England. In London, we have given the Mayor £34 million to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, with an extra £8.5 million for this work in 2015/16.
We have supported local areas, including London, to improve the quality of hostels through the Homelessness Change Programme, which provided £42.5 million of capital funding in 2012 – 2015 for new and refurbished bed spaces and facilities to provide meaningful activities to supporta pathway to independent living. For 2015 – 2017, the Department of Health will make available funding for local areas, including London, to invest in tailored hostel accommodation to improve the physical and mental health of rough sleepers, and successful partnership bids will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent on returning people from (a) other countries and (b) non-EU countries who were deemed homeless to their home countries in each year since 2010.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of voluntary reconnections of non-UK rough sleepers. It is for local authorities to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area. The Home Officeis responsible for administrative removal operations.
We expect people who come to this country to be able to support themselves, and if they cannot find work or accommodation then they should return home. For vulnerable individuals who are sleeping rough on the streets, there are locally funded reconnection services available to help them return to their home countries voluntarily and connect into support services there. In London, the Greater London Authority commission the London Reconnection Team, which is targeted at non-UK nationals with support needs.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the London Olympic council tax precept (a) has raised in each year of its existence and (b) is predicted to raise in the remaining years of its existence.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) social and (b) affordable homes were built in (i) London and (ii) each London borough in each year since 2010.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Statistics on additional affordable housing provided in each local authority area in England are published in the Department’s live tables 1006 (social rent), and 1006a (affordable rent), which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
These figures include both newly built housing and acquisitions.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) children and (b) adults were living in overcrowded accommodation in (i) London and (ii) each London borough in each year since 2010.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
According to the English Housing Survey, in 2010 there were 434,000 children and 708,000 adults living in overcrowded accommodation in London. For 2011, there were 435,000 children and 703,000 adults, and for 2012 there were 420,000 children and 693,000 adults living in overcrowded accomodation in London.
My Department does not record or collect the information requested at London borough level.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to reply to Question 224607, tabled by the hon. Member for Tooting on 20 February 2015 for answer on 24 February 2015.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Question 224607 was answered on 24 March 2015.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many council houses have been sold in (a) London and (b) each London borough since 2010.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Statistics on local authority right to buy sales in London and in each London Borough are published in the Department's live table 685 (annual) and 691 (quarterly) which are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
In England, council house building starts are now at a 23 year high and twice as many council homes have been built in the last 4 years than from 1997 to 2009. Previously, councils were not encouraged to build new homes from sales receipts and only 1 new council home was built for every 170 Right to Buy sales completed under the last Administration.
Since the Right to Buy was reinvigorated in England, £730 million in sales receipts are being re-invested in affordable house building; levering a further £1.7 billion of investment over the next 2 years. This means that in total, over £2.4 billion will be raised to invest in affordable house building as a result of the as a result of Right to Buy.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much from Right to Buy sales has been returned to the Treasury by each London borough in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Since the reform of the Housing Revenue Account and the introduction of Self-Financing in April 2012, a proportion of receipts are paid to Treasury in order to (a) reflect the reduction in the amount owed by local authorities to Treasury as part of the Self-Financing Settlement and (b) to tackle the budget deficit left by the last Administration.
The attached table shows those parts of the receipts arising from Right to Buy (or equivalent) sales received in each London borough in the previous five financial years and the first three quarters of the current financial year which have been indicated as payable to the Treasury. Since the reinvigoration of Right to Buy in April 2012, the 29 London stock-holding authorities have retained approximately £406 million for the purposes of providing replacement social housing in their local areas.
Overall, Right to Buy increases housing investment and housing construction. Since the Right to Buy was reinvigorated across England, £730 million in sales receipts are being re-invested in affordable house building; levering a further £1.7 billion of investment over the next 2 years. This means that in total, over £2.4 billion will be raised to invest in affordable house building as a result of Right to Buy.
In England, council house building starts are now at a 23 year high and almost twice as many council homes have been built in the last 4 years than from 1997 to 2009. Previously, councils were not encouraged to build new homes from sales receipts and only 1 new council home was built for every 170 Right to Buy sales completed under the last Administration.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) London and (b) each London borough who are under the age of 35 and live with their parents.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The information requested is not centrally held.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on marketing in relation to the Right to Buy scheme in London in each year since 2010.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This Government is committed to supporting home ownership, and giving a helping hand to social tenants to move up the housing ladder. But our reinvigorated Right to Buy can only be exercised by eligible tenants if they know about it. It is also important that social tenants have sufficient information about their rights to make an informed decision, and to ensure that home ownership is the right choice for them in light of their financial circumstances.
Precise figures on spending in London cannot be disaggregated from the national Right to Buy campaign. We can identify £378,393 of spending in 2012-13 and £68,500 in 2013-14; there was no London-specific spending in 2010-11 or 2011-12. Figures for 2014-15 are not yet available.
I appreciate that the Labour Party in London has effectively called for the Right to Buy to be abolished, and will oppose social tenants being informed. Such are the enemies of aspiration. The Right to Buy improves social mobility and helps build mixed communities. As well as increasing home ownership and supporting new build construction (from replacement affordable homes), it gives something back to families who have worked hard, paid their rent and played by the rules. It allows buyers to do up their home, change their front door, improve their garden – without getting permission from the council. It gives people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their home, but in their street and neighbourhood.
Total national spending was £0 in 2010-11, £17,728 in 2011-12, £1.4 million in 2012-13 and £1.0 million in 2013-14. To place our information campaigns in context, DCLG has cut spending on marketing and advertising from £9.9 million in 2009-10 to £2.0 million in 2013-14.
The rt. hon. Member is a former Minister in this Department, so will be well acquainted with communications activity under the last Labour Government, such as departmental spending of:
We run a tighter ship. Right to Buy and the Fire Kills campaign are now the two primary campaigns we run, and both have a clear public benefit, in strong contrast to the culture of spin and excess in the spendthrift Labour years.