John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on the definition of higher value for the purposes of sales of higher value council homes under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Brandon Lewis

There has been extensive engagement with local authorities about the policy on higher value vacant local authority housing, which has included discussion about the definition of higher value. All local authorities that hold a Housing Revenue Account have been invited to at least one of the following events:

– a ministerial meeting with local authority members and officers;
– a local authority Chief Executive discussion with the Permanent Secretary;
– a round table discussion between officials of local authorities and DCLG.

Additionally, a working group comprising local authorities and other stakeholders has provided technical advice on the policy.