Written question asked by James Plaskitt (Labour) on Thursday, 21 May 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 June 2009. It was answered by Iain Wright (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Housing: Low Incomes

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to enable local authorities with retained housing stock to increase the supply of social housing: and if she will make a statement.

Answer: We already expect and encourage local authorities to use their planning powers to help increase the supply of social housing. We announced in the Budget £100 million of new funding for local authorities to deliver new social housing at higher energy efficiency standards. In addition we have just concluded consultation on allowing local authorities to apply for any new council houses they build (or acquire or otherwise bring back into use) to be held outside the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Subsidy system. This will enable them to keep the rental income and sale receipts of any such properties, which, to date, has proved a disincentive to build.While authorities without stock will be free to apply for both grant and exclusions from the HRA Subsidy system, we expect that it will be authorities with retained stock that will have the capacity to take advantage of the opportunity.

Secondary information