§ 13. Mr. Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many housing submissions were made by local authorities in Scotland in the last quarter of 1972; and what were the submissions for the same quarter in 1971, 1970, 1969 and 1968.
§ Mr. YoungerThe numbers of houses submitted for approval by local authorities in the fourth quarter were 6,731 in 1970, 28,611 in 1971, and 1,056 in 1972. Because of a change in procedure made early in 1970, exact figures relating to submissions in the fourth quarters of 1968 and 1969 are not readily available, but the numbers were about 9,000 and 10,000 respectively.
§ 19. Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he proposes taking to stimulate public sector housebuilding; and what steps he intends taking to reduce the cost of private housing.
§ Mr. YoungerThe new subsidy arrangements give the public authorities every encouragement to build to meet need wherever it arises. As a result, in 1972 the number of houses approved was over 5,000 more than in 1971, and over 7,500 more than in 1970. In the private sector increased building is the best way of stabilising house costs, and 1972 was a record year for both starts and completions: in particular, starts were up 14 per cent. on 1971, which is clear evidence of the effectiveness of our policies.
§ 28. Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses were built for owner-occupation in 1972; and by what percentage this is an increase or decrease on the figures for 1971 and 1970.
§ Mr. Younger11,835, an increase of 2 per cent. and 44 per cent. over the numbers in 1971 and 1970, respectively.
§ Dr. Dickson Mabonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what administrative or other changes he intends to 378W make in the operation of the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellI intend to make regulations altering the needs allowances set out in paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 2. Otherwise I have no proposals for any changes at present.
§ Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public sector and private sector houses were completed in Scotland in the years 1970, 1971 and 1972, respectively.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe information is as follows:
Public Sector Private Sector 1970 … … … 34,947 8,220 1971 … … … 29,130 11,614 1972 … … … 20,155 11,835