§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for the South-East, excluding the GLC area, and for all other regions in the country, the approximate acreage and number of dwellings for which planning consent has been given and which has not yet been taken up; and, on the basis of present building programmes, what period it will be in each area before the pool of outstanding consents has been used.
§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is his estimate of the amount of land for which planning permission for residential development has been given but on which construction has not yet commenced;
(2) what is his estimate of the amount of building land held by private developers on which construction work has not yet commenced.
§ Mr. OakesTaking the country as a whole there is estimated to be some two to four years' supply of private land with planning permission for housing. A great deal of the land owned by developers with a view to construction will come within this total. Local authorities also have substantial holdings for public housing development. However, there are wide regional and local variations, and any assessment for a particular locality would have to take account of planning and land ownership, the extent to which permissions may have expired or may duplicate other permis-130W sions for the same land, and the availability of infrastructure and services.