HC Deb 10 June 1981 vol 6 cc392-3
6. Mr. Douglas-Mann

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies are being undertaken by his Department of the probable demand for housing in the public and private sectors by 1983–84; and with what result.

Mr. Heseltine

The work that has been carried out by the Department for some years on projections of household formation is being continued. I also refer the hon. Member to the Government's views on assessment of need and demand for housing set out in the Government's reply to the first report from the Environment Committee.

Mr. Douglas-Mann

Does not that reply attempt to conceal the fact that the Government are unwilling to know the facts in case they confuse the Government's prejudices? Is it not also grossly irresponsible and a discourtesy to the House that when a parliamentary Select Committee on which the Government have a minority has unanimously predicted a shortage of nearly half a million homes by the end of this Parliament the Government have neither undertaken any proper studies to assess the accuracy of that prediction nor started to change their policies?

Mr. Heseltine

I know how much the hon. Gentleman believes that forecasting can solve problems. I take the view, however, that the Department's task is to apply its energies as far as possible to opening up housing opportunities. The Government have carried out a more comprehensive review and have introduced more new initiatives to create potential for housing improvement than any Government for a long time. I therefore totally reject the hon. Gentleman's assertions. With regard to the forecasting which concerns him, I remind the hon. Gentleman that even those who carried out the original exercise had doubts about its value.

Mr. Stephen Ross

Does the Secretary of State live in the real world? Is he unaware that the cost of housing is rising all the time and that vast numbers of people can afford neither to purchase nor to rent? What is the Department doing about the study of the increasing costs of homelessness which fall directly upon local authorities and are reacping levels which they cannot meet? Is the Department prepared to help them?

Mr. Heseltine

I am fully aware that this country has for many years experienced totally unacceptable levels of inflation. It is precisely because of those inflationary pressures that housing costs have risen and it is precisely because we are challenging that with our counter-inflationary policies that I believe that we are right to hold back public expenditure.

Mr. Chapman

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the latest estimates show that an additional 200,000 single-person dwellings will be needed in London over the next 10 years? Does he agree that that increased demand could be far more easily met if people knew that there was some permanence in the new shorthold concept?

Mr. Heseltine

My hon. Friend's question highlights the difficulty that we face. We have introduced new schemes, but the faster we introduce them the more the Labour Party tries to destroy them.