§ 3. Mr. Nicholas Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest available quarterly figures for housing starts, houses under construction and completions and for housing improvements in Wales.
§ Mr. John MorrisWith permission, Mr. Speaker, I will circulate the detailed information in the Official Report. The provisional figures for the fourth quarter of 1977 show 2,515 starts, 3,826 completions, and 19,054 under construction. 1,777 private sector renovation grants were approved during the quarter.
§ Mr. EdwardsAre not the year's housing starts among the worst for a number of years and do not the figures in the recent report "Housing in Wales" suggest that the Government have made a great mistake in reducing the amount of expenditure on housing improvements in Wales and switching the policy on that which was followed by the Conservative Government?
§ Mr. MorrisFirst, I welcome the hon. Member back to our midst, and I wish him well.
We would have wished that starts had been better, but certainly they are much better than anything achieved by the hon. Gentleman's party, certainly in the Conservative Government's last year of office, when their achievement was disgraceful.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansAs my right hon. and learned Friend has succeeded in obtaining additional capital for expenditure on housing in Wales, what further action is being taken to encourage local authorities to avail themselves of the funds that exist for house building?
§ Mr. MorrisI am sure that the House will recognise the situation. I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Time after time we have obtained the increased resources that are badly needed in Wales, and regrettably they have not been spent, for a whole host of causes. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Rhondda (Mr. Jones), who is not able to be present this afternoon—he is in Cardiff, for obvious reasons—has set up machinery to work in very close consultation with local authorities to try to 982 ensure that all the money that is available will be spent and to ensure that those who can spend more are given added encouragement.
§ Mr. D. E. ThomasIn view of the disappointing number of starts in both the private sector and the public sector in Wales last year, to meet the urgent need, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman look at the allocation to the Housing Corporation office in Wales to increase its units from the present 1,500 to 2,000?
§ Mr. MorrisThe Housing Corporation is getting a significant increase in its allocation. It is very much higher, by a number of times, than it was in 1973 and 1974, and the Housing Corporation is getting even more next year because I believe—and I am fairly confident—that it will be able to spend the resources given to it. It is being given every encouragement.
§ Following is the information:
§ The latest available provisional figures are for the fourth quarter of 1977 and are as follows:
| Starts | |
| Public sector | 1,078 |
| Private sector | 1,437 |
| Completions | |
| Public sector | 2,169 |
| Private sector | 1,657 |
| Under Construction | |
| Public sector | 8,278 |
| Private sector | 10,776 |
§ 1,777 private sector renovation grants (improvement, conversion, intermediate repairs and special grants) were approved during the quarter.