§ 18. Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to encourage private owners of rented houses to provide the standard amenities of bath, wash basin, hot water supply, water closet and food store.
§ Mr. MaclayForty-five thousand copies of a leaflet describing the special grants available to owners for the provision of these basic amenities have been distributed, and practical demonstrations and displays have been held or are planned in a number of different areas. The hon. Member may have seen the very successful display at a recent exhibition in the Kelvin Hall.
§ Mr. MillanSince the number of privately-owned rented houses in Scotland which are lacking either one or all of these amenities must be of the order of about 500,000, is it not absolutely shocking that the total applications by private landlords for assistance in the first nine months of this year totalled just over 100? Is this not a demonstration of the fact that private landlordism in Scotland is not able to do this job? When is the right hon. Gentleman going to draw the conclusion from this that this is something which the local authority ought to be allowed to do on a grand scale? The houses should be turned over to them so that they can do the job which is desperately needed.
§ Mr. MaclayThe hon. Gentleman has gone rather wide in his supplementary question, but it is interesting to note that the proportion of rented houses for which applications for grants have been 958 received has risen from 3 per cent. in the first quarter to 17 per cent. in the third quarter. They were slow to get under way, but there are good signs that private landlords are beginning to take advantage of it.
§ Mr. MillanAre percentages to mean anything at all? The number of applications in the third quarter was only 72, and there are about 500,000 of these houses. How long will it take to do the job?
§ Mr. MaclayI can give the hon. Member a lot of figures, but I have not the one that he has mentioned. If he wants them, I will write to him.