HC Deb 28 October 1980 vol 991 cc270-1W
Mr. Hooley

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what calculation has been made by his Department of the annual rate at which houses and flats in England and Wales are becoming unfit for habitation; and if he will publish the figures.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

It is estimated subject to considerable sampling error from house condition surveys carried out in 1971 and in 1976, that the number of dwellings in England becoming unfit for human habitation was of the order of 35,000 over this five year period. Neither a comparable estimate for Wales nor later information is available.