§ Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to introduce the new enveloping scheme of house improvement announced by 404W the Minister for Housing and Construction in his speech at the National Home Improvement Council awards on 21 October; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StanleyDepartment of the Environment Circular 29/82 "Improvement of Older Housing-Enveloping" has been published advising all authorities that they may use their Housing Investment Programme funds and their capital receipts to carry out enveloping schemes in housing action areas. These arrangements come into effect immediately. Though I originally announced a start date of 1 April 1983 for the new national enveloping scheme, I have brought this forward so that authorities may consider using for enveloping the additional housing allocations for 1982–83 for which applications were invited on 29 October.
Local authorities will receive an Exchequer contribution towards their expenditure on enveloping schemes amounting to 75 per cent. of the Loan charges on the approved costs of each scheme. Authorities may make immediate application to the Department for approval of their enveloping schemes and for any additional housing allocation they may require for 1982–83.