Housing: Low Incomes

Andrew Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding was allocated to build affordable housing in financial years (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; how much she plans to allocate in 2007-08; and how many affordable homes (i) were built in financial years 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) she estimates will be built in financial year 2007-08;

(2) what estimate she has made of the cost of building 50,000 social homes in the years 2006-07 and 2007-08; and if she will make a statement;

(3) what estimate she has made of the number of social homes that will be completed in 2006-07.

Yvette Cooper
Expenditure through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) in 2005-06 totalled £1.6 billion and for the two years 2006 to 2008 we allocated a further £3.9 billion, of which the Housing Corporation spent £1.9 billion in 2006-07.

In 2005-06 over 45,400 affordable homes were provided, with 36,386 of these being provided through Housing Corporation's AHP. Provisional figures for 2006-07 indicate that over 44,000 affordable homes were provided, of which around 38,000 were through Housing Corporation's AHP. A further 56,000 affordable homes are planned for 2007-08, of which over 47,000 will be provided though the Housing Corporation's funding.

Provisional figures for 2006-07 show that over 25,000 social rented homes were provided of which 22,000 were through the Housing Corporation's AHP.

We have made no estimates for the cost of building 50,000 social rented homes in 2006-07 and 2007-08. We set the Housing Corporation targets to provide 21,000 social rented homes in 2006-07 and 28,000 in 2007-08. The latter homes will contribute towards our target of providing 30,000 social rented homes in 2007-08.

Of the Housing Corporation budget of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 it is estimated that £2.8 billion will be spent on providing social rented homes. Future investment will be subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 on which we have already stated that we intend to make the provision of social rented homes a priority.

Margaret Moran
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions on the Hills report; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper
Professor John Hills’ Review “End and Means: The future roles of social housing in England” raised concerns about high levels of worklessness among households living in social housing.

Ministers and officials from Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions have held a number of discussions on this issue. We are working closely together to explore ways in which we can address worklessness and how social housing can act as a platform for social and economic mobility.