Housing: Demolition

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were demolished under the housing market renewal pathfinder scheme, in each pathfinder area in each year, prior to its termination. [112605] Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government's targets were for demolition of homes under the housing market renewal pathfinder scheme, prior to its termination, in each pathfinder area. [R] [112609] Grant Shapps: The last Administration's Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder programme created large-scale Whitehall targets for demolition and clearance across the midlands and the north of England. The centrally driven schemes were often resented by local communities and created as many problems as they solved. This top-down approach has not worked, frequently resulting in blighted areas where large scale demolition and clearance projects have been stopped in their tracks, leaving some families isolated in abandoned streets. There was widespread public. controversy over an obsession with demolition over refurbishment, the lack of transparency of the pathfinder quangos, large profits by developers, the demolition of our nation's Victorian heritage and perverse incentives being given to run down neighbourhoods. The designation of areas for demolition effectively increased deprivation in those areas; many social landlords prepared the ground by voiding and boarding up properties. In turn, this undermined the housing market as mortgage lenders were unwilling to lend in such areas. Areas were effectively managed into declineto 25 Jun 2012 : Column 11W make the notional benefits of wholesale demolition more attractive, ensuring a larger windfall gain for the state. As the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee warned in 2005: Concerns have been expressed about the scale of demolitions envisaged and the impact on vulnerable communities. Some demolition is required but there is a risk that this initiative will be seen as a major demolition programme, which will repeat the mistakes of previous clearance programmes that destroyed the heritage of areas and failed to replace it with neighbourhoods of lasting value (ODPM Select Committee, Empty Homes and Low-demand Pathfinders, HC 295-1, April 2005). Top-down targets were created by the Whitehall programme. Demolition output targets were demanded of Pathfinder partnerships in their funding agreements with the Department for Communities and Local Government. The contracts explicitly stated that grant is payable...on condition that the Pathfinder achieves the Programme Targets specified for that year and the Department would suspend, withhold, reduce or withdraw grants at any time if the targets were not met or satisfactory progress with the implementation was not made (deposited papers from Official Report, 6 October 2008, column 340W).

The National Audit Office review of the programme in November 2007 observed that there had been 10,242 properties demolished compared to 1,078 new builds, and there were plans for a total of 57,100 properties to be demolished (NAO, Department for Communities and Local Government: Housing Market Renewal, HC 20, 2007-2008, pp. 7, 19). It added: The demolition element of the programme has been controversial and can carry particular value for money risks where the acquisition of old properties, clearance of sites and development of new homes is more expensive than the refurbishment of existing properties. (p.6) The Audit Commission has subsequently published a review of the programme that projected there would be 30,987 demolitions from 2002 to 2010-11 (Audit Commission, Housing market renewal, March 2011, p.9). Full figures by type can be found in the Audit Commission report, while figures on individual areas are available at: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/housing/marketrenewal pathfinders/strategicreviews/Pages/Strategicreviewofprogress 2010.aspx This Government has cancelled the Pathfinder programme and is instead actively seeking to get empty homes back into productive use. Unlike the Pathfinder programme, we are not going to throw massive central taxpayer subsidies at razing properties where it would be more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable to improve and refurbish.

Housing: Regeneration
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many homes were (a) demolished, (b) refurbished and (c) built under the Housing Market Pathfinder renewal programme between 1997 and 2010; [111356] (2) with reference to the contribution by the Minister for Housing and Local Government of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 184WH, what the source was 25 Jun 2012 : Column 12W of his statement that 10,000 homes were destroyed by the housing market renewal programme and 1,000 homes were built. [111531] Grant Shapps [holding answer 14 June 2012]: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave today, PQ 112609.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120625/text/120625w0001.htm#1206253000 0019