§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish in the Official Report his latest estimates of the number of tenants and private landlords in the United Kingdom in (a) unfurnished and (b) furnished accommodation eligible for rent allowances not claiming benefit and the annual amount of benefit unclaimed;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report his latest estimate of the number 129W of local authority tenants in the United Kingdom eligible for rent rebates not claiming benefit, and the total annual amount of benefit unclaimed.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe amount of unclaimed benefit is not known, but it is estimated that at April 1974 the numbers of tenants, excluding supplementary benefit recipients, in the United Kingdom eligible respectively for a rent rebate or allowance but not receiving one were about 300,000 in local authority and new town accommodation and about 450.000 in privately rented unfurnished accommodation.
The number of tenants of furnished accommodation eligible for a rent allowance but not receiving one is estimated to he between 100,000 and 150,000.