HC Deb 06 February 1985 vol 72 cc919-20
1. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of council house starts in the years 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984, respectively.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Sir George Young)

The figures for the first six years are as follows: 75,000, 55,000, 34,000, 21,000, 29,000 and 30,000. The provisional figure for 1984 is 23,000.

Mr. Flannery

Do not those figures reveal a disgraceful position? There are 500,000 building workers out of work, longer and longer waiting lists in all big cities., and houses being sold off at half price, which depletes the urban housing stock, yet the Government produce these figures, which alarm anyone who wishes to house our people. When will the Minister resign?

Sir George Young

I urge the hon. Gentleman to broaden his horizon and consider other indicators of housing performance apart from local authority starts. Local authorities' improvement grants have increased from £90 million to more than £900 million. I suggest that he has a discussion with an Opposition spokesman on housing. The hon. Gentleman implied that he was against the right to buy but, as I understand it, Labour party policy, as announced by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Bar (Mr. Rooker), is to admit that the right to buy has been a success, and that the Labour party would face considerable opposition if it went ba/ck on it.

Mr. Peter Bruinvels

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Labour party is being hypocritical in trying to stop people from buying their homes? That is wholly contrary to the views of the council tenants, who want to buy their homes rather than to see massive additional house building.

Sir George Young

There is clearly a private debate going on within the Labour party about whether to remain committed to repealing the right to buy. As I understood it, the party is against that, but the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mr. Flannery) does not seem to have been party to that decision.

Mr. Allan Roberts

Will the Minister stop diverting the question away from the abysmal number of local authority starts by referring to the Government's other so-called initiatives, which have not resulted in anything substantial? Has not he or the Secretary of State, had a word, for example, with Laurie Barratt, and their other friends in the building industry, who say that their well-cherished joint venture scheme will no longer go ahead because of the 15 per cent. VAT on building improvements and the Government's freeze on the right to of local authorities to spend their capital receipts?

Sir George Young

If one looks at the performance of the private sector between 1980 and 1983, one sees that the number of starts increased from 98,000 to 167,000. One must put that in the balance, as well as the factors that the hon. Gentleman mentioned.

Mr. Brandon-Bravo

Are not Opposition Members foolishly playing the numbers game when they concentrate solely on public sector new building? Is it not the case that many authorities—my own in Nottingham is a case in point, with 47,000 homes in its ownership—should be concentrating on maintaining and improving their existing stocks?

Sir George Young

My hon. Friend is right. Whatever the political complexion of local authorities, they have all recognised that the real challenge is to modernise and improve the existing stock and to convert other stock that needs improvement. That has been the thrust of local authority expenditure, and it is wholly misleading to take as the sole criterion of performance, as the hon. Member for Hillsborough did, the number of local authority starts.

Mr. Heffer

Has the Minister had drawn to his attention a report of the commission headed by Prince Philip, which made it clear that those who wanted to rent property were having great difficulty in doing so because of the cuts in capital expenditure determined by the Government?

Sir George Young

I have seen an interim report from that commission containing some evidence. As I understand it, the commission has not yet come to any conclusions. The Government await with great interest the findings of this important commission.

Mr. Robert Atkins

Is it not true that many local authorities choose to direct their housing resources into more productive areas? For example, the borough of South Ribble is the national leader in building sheltered accommodation of a private, housing association or even a council nature. Should not local authorities direct their resources towards that?

Sir George Young

My hon. Friend is right. We have encouraged local authorities to provide housing for the elderly, the disabled and the homeless rather than try to meet the general needs, which we believe the private sector will have a crucial role in satisfying.