HC Deb 09 February 1981 vol 998 c283W
Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is the position that, where local authority housing projects have been deferred from the current financial year by the present moratorium, no capital costs subsidy under section 2 of the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975 will be payable for such projects which were programmed to go ahead but have been deferred because of the moratorium and that loss of such capital costs subsidy which would have been payable had the deferred projects proceeded within the current financial year will depress the base amount of housing subsidies for 1981–82, payable under section 98(l)(b) of the Housing Act 1980, which could have been expected if the deferred projects had gone ahead in 1980–81 and so qualified for capital costs subsidy.

Mr. Heseltine

Yes, but it is only reasonable that subsidy for 1980–81 on new admissible capital costs—which will contribute to the base amount for 1981–82—should relate to amounts within the housing cash limit for 1980–81, which the moratorium is designed to prevent being exceeded.

Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, consequent upon his reply to the hon. Member for the Wrekin (Mr. Hawksley), Official Report, 4 February, c. 291, and subsequent supplementary answers, whether it is his policy henceforth to prohibit construction of public sector houses in the new towns dealt with in that reply between now and the winding-up dates; if not, what is his policy for housing construction in these new towns between now and the winding-up date; and how that policy compares with that for the winding-up of new towns as it was when the present Government took office.

Mr. Heseltine

The Government's policy for housing, in the new towns as elsewhere, is to promote owner-occupation, including shared ownership and other forms of low-cost home ownership. The third-generation new towns already have substantial stocks of public-sector rented housing. We do not therefore expect to see the start of any further significant public-sector rented housing schemes in these towns. Unlike our predecessors, we are not relying on public-sector rented housing to achieve population targets.