Housing (Yorkshire and Humberside)

HC Deb 22 November 1973 vol 864 cc515-6W

Mr. Lomas

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region are designated as "sub-standard"; and how this compares with the national average.

Mr. Eyre

There is no procedure for designating houses as "sub-standard" but the report, available in the Library, of the House Condition Survey 1971, England and Wales, provides information on the numbers of unfit dwellings and of dwellings that lack one or more of the basic amenities. Estimates are given there for England and Wales, and also for the Northern, Yorkshire and Humberside and North West Regions together.

Mr. Lomas

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many council houses were built in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region in 1972 and 1973; and what effect the cost yardstick had on this;

(2) how many houses—corporation and private—were built in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region in 1972 and to the latest available date.

Mr. Eyre

The numbers of dwellings reported completed in the region during 1972 and the first half of 1973 appear on page 7 of Local Housing Statistics, England and Wales, Nos. 25 and 27 respectively; copies of these publications are available in the Library. The figures for the third quarter of 1973 were 1,447 for local authorities and 4,553 for the private sector. Flexible yardstick arrangements, under which account is taken of local market conditions, were introduced last November. The numbers of dwellings in tenders accepted by local authorities in the region in the first nine months of this year was 3.7 per cent. up on the same period last year.

Mr. Lomas

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region are without inside toilets and bathrooms at the latest available date; and how this compares with the national average.

Mr. Eyre

The 1971 Census found that 14.8 per cent. of households in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region had no inside WC and 9.9 per cent. had no fixed bath or shower. The corresponding figures for Great Britain were 9.1 per cent. and 11.5 per cent. respectively.