HC Deb 03 March 1971 vol 812 cc447-8W
Mr. Urwin

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses were built in the Northern Region in each year from 1958 to 1970 in the public and private sectors; and what was the number built in the constituency of Houghton-le-Spring.

Mr. Channon

The hon. Member can obtain the regional information he seeks from Housing Statistics No. 7 (Supplementary Table IV) for 1958 to 1966 and from Housing Statistics No. 19 (Table 3) for 1966 to 1969. Copies of the publications are available in the Library. The 1970 figures for the Northern Region were: public sector 11,410 dwellings completed, private sector 8,560. Figures are not available for the Houghton-le-Spring constituency which does not coincide with local housing authority areas.

Mr. Urwin

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new houses, public and private, he estimates will be built in the Northern Region in each year from 1971 to 1975.

Mr. Channon

I am not prepared to make these forecasts.

Mr. Urwin

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many unfit houses he estimates will be demolished and rebuilt in the Northern Region in each year from 1971 to 1975.

Mr. Channon

Forward programmes as requested from local housing authorities in Circular 92/69 do not extend beyond the calendar year 1973. The returns from authorities in the Northern Region show that they propose to demolish or close under slum clearance powers a total of 23,314 houses in the years to 1971–73 as follows:

1971 … … … … 7,455
1972 … … … … 8,578
1973 … … … … 7,281

Mr. Urwin

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many unfit houses were demolished and rebuilt in the Northern Region in each year from 1958 to 1970; and what were the individual figures for district and borough councils in the county of Durham.

Mr. Channon

Figures for all houses demolished or closed in the Northern Region from 1955 can be found in Table 38 of Housing Statistics No. 19 published in November, 1970. Similar information for individual local authorities can be obtained from Local Housing Statistics, England and Wales, for 1966 onwards and for previous years from the Appendix to the Housing Returns. Copies of all these publications are available in the Library.

The numbers of new houses built to replace unfit houses demolished cannot be separately identified from those built for other purposes.