Speaks of zero house assessments (6)
I believe the answer is:
orates
'speaks' is the definition.
(orating is a kind of speaking)
'zero house assessments' is the wordplay.
'zero' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'house assessments' becomes 'rates' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'o'+'rates'='ORATES'
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for orates that I've seen before include "Speaks formally, makes speech" , "Speechifies" , "Makes lengthy or pompous speech" , "Talks grandly from a platform" , "Talks pompously" .)