HC Deb 17 December 1980 vol 996 cc272-3
2. Mr. Stoddart

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the likely number of house completions in the public and private sectors in 1980 and 1981.

The Minister for Housing and Construction (Mr. John Stanley)

I cannot estimate future rates of completions, but between January and October this year there were 75,000 completions in the public sector in England and 90,000 in the private sector.

Mr. Stoddart

Is not that a most unsatisfactory answer? Does it not show a disgraceful neglect of duty in that the Minister is not evaluating the effects of the Government's savage housing cuts? Is it not a wilful disregard of the interests of the people on housing waiting lists, both present and future, who will have to wait years longer for a house, as well as the interests of the 280,000 unemployed building industry workers? Is it not a fact that only 190,000 houses in both sectors will be completed this year and even fewer next year? The Minister and his right hon. Friend are a malignant cancer on the body of housing, and they ought to be removed.

Mr. Stanley

The hon. Gentleman will recall that in the five years of the Labour Administration housing capital was reduced by nearly half in real terms. He should also bear in mind that local authorities have discretion as to whether they use their available capital for new build or for improvements to existing dwellings. The pattern of expenditure in the public sector over the last six successive years has shown that by their own choice local authorities have chosen to increase the proportion that they are spending on improving the existing stock rather than undertaking new build. Despite all the gloom and doom which the hon. Gentleman is perpetrating, I remind him that the number of council dwellings which have been improved this year is higher than in any year since 1973.

Mr. Hill

Does not my hon. Friend agree that one of the main problems is that local authorities have been operating a land bank within the cities and have not released land to the private sector even when it was surplus to requirements? When shall we see some results from the lists which my hon. Friend is asking the local authorities to draw up?

Mr. Stanley

My hon. Friend is quite right. He will know that the first authorities which have been asked to draw up registers of land have already been designated by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services. He will also be aware that it is not merely vacant land which is being held on to by certain local authorities but empty housing as well. The latest HIP returns show that seven authorities have had more than 1,000 houses empty for more than a year. The House should be aware that those authorities are as follows—Camden, with 1,080 empty houses; Lambeth, with 1,189; Southwark, with 1,196; Hackney, with 1,267; Knowsley, with 1,400; Islington, with 1,401; and Manchester, with 1,869.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

As housing figures in the public sector are determined by the HIP allocation, can the Minister say what proportion of the housing investment programme, which was announced on Monday, is likely to lead to new building? Is it not a fact that much of that money is already committed and that one authority in Coventry which put in a bid for £25 million received only £7.8 million whereas it is already committed to £8.9 million? How many local authorities has the Minister placed in that position, and what does he intend to do about them?

Mr. Stanley

I congratulate the hon. lady on her move to the housing front. The answer to her question is that this year all local authorities have not merely their allocation but also the ability to add to their allocation by the capital receipts which they get in from the sale of land, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Mr. Hill) has referred. That will be a significant factor in regard to the amount which they spend on new build or improvements.