HC Deb 04 December 1980 vol 995 cc260-1W
Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, on the basis of the information currently available to him, he estimates that there will be an overall surplus or shortfall of houses and flats by 1985; and if he will publish the figures appropriate to each region.

Mr. Stanley

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said on a number of occasions, attempts to make estimates of this kind illustrate the difficulty of the task and the conjectural nature of the results, since they must be based on a number of uncertain assumptions.