Hot on the heels of one House of Commons Adjournment Debate on empty homes, comes a second, this time secured by Graham Jones, Labour MP for Hyndburn, on the 13th December. Again Andrew Stunell answered questions . The full text of the exchanges can be found on the They Work for You website
MP Jones made important points about the issues facing areas of low demand. He pointed out that Hyndburn had over 7% of its housing stock empty and that housing needed to be seen in the context of an overall plan for regeneration, to which housing could make a significant contribution but for which it could not be the only solution.
He also highlighted the issue that districts may get only 15% or so of council tax, making it hard in many areas - Hyndburn being one - to meet the requirement for match funding that has been stipulated for the "extra" £50million recently announced by the government. "Lancashire, the shire authority, has no interest in empty homes" states Jones, emphatically.
Jones complained again about not being able to access the £100million funding because Hyndburn was not a registered provider (a point he had made in the previous adjournment debate). Minister Andrew Stunell pointed out how easy it would be to become a Registered Provider:
Hyndburn borough council is not currently a registered provider. What does it need to do to become one and therefore become eligible to make a bid against the £100 million directly, rather than working through a partner? Under section 114A of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, all that it has to do is to notify the Tenant Services Authority by letter that it intends to become a provider of social housing, owing to a change in circumstances. In this case, the change in circumstances would involve gaining access to the empty homes funding allocated via the HCA. It does not need to fill in the application form on the TSA website or go through the full application process. It will simply be added to the register as a registered provider of social housing within a few days of notification of its intention to do so.
(Neither Jones nor Stunell have yet started to grapple with the need for Investment Partner status. However, those who have been involved in the HCA's "council build" funding programme will know that is a time-consuming but certainly not insurmountable task).
Jones finally pressed Stunell on the issue about match-funding and the difficulties Hyndburn might have providing this: Stunell responded:
I listened carefully to the hon. Gentleman, but I do not wish to pre-empt anything that may be in the criteria for the £50 million. I will undertake to convey his view and the circumstances in Hyndburn to my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Local Government, who is working on that.
That will be Grant Shapps which is perhaps something of a surprise as we have seen Andrew Stunell as the main architect and champion of anything connected with empt y homes to date. In a recent Comment piece in Inside Housing , Grant Shapps's silence on empty homes was deafening.