Owner-occupied Dwellings: Statistics (Hansard, 17 March 1983)

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, in Great Britain the estimated increase from the end of March 1979 to the end of 1982 was about 1.1 million—a rise from approximately 54 per cent. to 58 per cent. of the housing stock.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that it will give great satisfaction that this policy is succeeding? Could he say how many sales of council properties have been made since April 1979? Could he also perhaps tell the House whether there is an increase in both the public and private sector housing starts in the current year?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
Yes, my Lords; both have been increased dramatically in recent years. It is estimated that between 1st April 1979 and 31st September last a total of 428,000 public sector dwellings were sold in Great Britain. I am afraid that I do not have the figures to which my noble friend referred in his initial supplementary question; but I can tell him that private house-building starts have increased by 20 per cent. in each of the last two years. The House Builders' Federation expect a further rise of 10 per cent. in 1983—a cumulative rise since 1980 of over 60 per cent.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, out of the total number given by the noble Lord, can he say how many 830 were leaseholders buying reversions from landlords under the Leasehold Act?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
No, my Lords, I am afraid I cannot; but I can say that there are now up to about 300,000 right-to-buy sales.

§ Viscount Hanworth
My Lords, can the noble Lord say to what extent the houses which have been sold to tenants are being replaced? Furthermore, would he agree that, with the importance of mobility as a means of reducing unemployment, it is very important (possibly for the future) to have an adequate number of council houses so that mobility from one area to another area can, if necessary, be arranged?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, if I may be allowed to say so, I think the noble Viscount is half right. While I agree that there must be houses available in the total housing stock in various areas to assist with mobility of labour, I cannot necessarily agree that these should be part of the rented stock. I think it would be a good thing that a man who has exercised the right to buy in one area and who, because of the labour situation, wishes to move, should be able then to sell his house and move to a private house in another area of the country. Having said that, it is a fact that a lot of voluntary sales have been made and were initiated in the year before the Housing and Building Control Act 1980 got on to the statute book.

§ Lord Gibson-Watt
My Lords, would my noble friend agree that the housing picture is not complete unless one includes the figures of those houses which have been improved as a result of Government grants? Has he any figures which he can give us for these improvements which would perhaps give us the whole picture?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, my noble friend is quite correct; grants for improvement are a very important part of Government housing policy. I am afraid I have no current figures in that respect, but I would say that the increase in the mortgage ceiling in the Budget two days ago will naturally make quite a big improvement to these particular figures.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, will the noble Lord tell the House how many unoccupied dwellings there have been during the same period? Is it not deplorable that there should apparently be so many empty houses when there are so many homeless families?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
Not without notice, my Lords. That is a totally different question. The reason why buildings are unoccupied is not necessarily because of Government action or because of the action of people on the waiting list who want to buy them.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the English and Welsh housing conditions survey showed that the largest number of dwellings in poor condition were those in owner-occupation? Four million of these are in the occupation of old-age pensioners who are living on very small incomes. Would the Minister agree that he needs to look at the grants system as it affects old-age 831 pensioners? For those pensioners who have little or no capital, the 90 per cent. grant does not do much to help them to get their homes into what we call the fit condition and thus out of the unfit categories in which they are included in the housing survey.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I have already made clear that grants are available for home improvement—not only the 90 per cent. grant to which the noble Baroness refers but, in certain cases, the discretionary grant from the local authorities. Each particular case has to be looked at on its merits. If there are problems specifically connected with old-age pensioners and their particular housing needs in the private sector, I will make certain I look at them.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, will the noble Lord look particularly at the Anchor Housing Trust, which are very concerned about this issue and were one of the pioneers in trying to arrange what we call a package deal for the old-age pensioners who are in the owner-occupied category?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
Yes, my Lords, now that the noble Baroness has drawn that to my attention, most certainly I will do so.

§ Lord Monson
My Lords, will the Minister not agree that the intellectually indefensible raising of the mortgage interest relief ceiling from £25,000 to £30,000, to which he has referred, will almost certainly push house prices up across the board, thereby making house purchase impossible for many potential first-time buyers?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I would not agree with anything of the sort. What I would agree with is that it gives a useful amount of money, which is, in part, tax deductible, for furthering private improvement schemes on the same houses.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, would my noble friend not agree that, now that the Government have had such tremendous success with their policy of owner occupation, it might perhaps be a good idea to start looking at the rent restriction Acts while reserving the right of the old and the poor to full rent protection. There may he other sectors of the economy where houses or free accommodation could be made available for leasing or for letting. There is badly needed—as noble Lords opposite have said—a flexibility in housing which is available for young people, for students and the rest through letting and not having to buy houses. Ought we not now to look at this sector of the housing economy?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, while that is a slightly different question, I was very interested to listen this morning to the BBC "Checkpoint" programme on which this subject was aired. I must say to my noble friend that, given another five years of Conservative Government, I have no doubt that this is one of the subjects that will be considered and looked at.