§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will commission another inquiry on the lines of Command Paper No. 1246 on the effects of the Rent Act, 1957; how many dwellings are still subject to rent control in Metropolitan London and in the rest of England and Wales, respectively; and how many are being decontrolled in each year in Metropolitan London and the rest of England and Wales.
§ Sir K. JosephAs already announced, the Government are arranging for an independent committee to make a survey of housing in London. I am also keeping under review the range of statistical and other information available to my Department. The Rent Act Report published in 1960 estimated that about 80,000 dwellings in Metropolitan London and 240,000 in the rest of England and Wales were being decontrolled each year through "creeping decontrol"; I have no reason to suppose the rate has changed materially. On this basis about 500,000 dwellings in Metropolitan London and about 1,500,000 elsewhere in England and Wales are still controlled.