§ Mr. Amessasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many private landlords have been prosecuted under the Rent Acts for each of the past 10 years; and under what sections.
§ Mr. MellorI have been asked to reply.
Records available to us may be incomplete because they cover only prosecutions by the police, and do not separately identify offences by private landlords. The available information is given in the following tables.
Year Total proceedings under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1962 (Failing to provide rent book etc.) Number of defendants proceeded against 1979 52 1980 24 1981 23 1982 21 1983 19 667W
New Construction† Per Capita in 1982 $ per capita United Kingdom 820 France‡ 1,160 United States of America 1,200 Federal Republic of Germany 1,370 Canada 1,750 Japan 1,970 * Figures converted to United States dollar equivalents using purchasing power parities. † Figures exclude repair and maintenance work. In the United Kingdom this would add substantially to the figure given above. ‡ 1981 figure. It is difficult to make valid international comparisons of construction work because of different population densities; different rates of population growth; differing purchasing powers; different costs of construction; and differing rate of economic growth. These factors would all contribute to an apparent lower level of spending on new construction in the United Kingdom than in other countries.
In addition, the United Kingdom has a considerable legacy of housing and other infrastructure from the 19th and earlier 20th century, the substantial cost of whose repair and maintenance is not reflected in the figures given.
The Government's economic policies have, since 1981, contributed to an 8 per cent. growth in GDP; an 18 per cent. growth in total fixed investment; a 10 per cent. rise in total construction industry output; and a 15.6 per cent rise in output by the construction industry for the private sector—excluding housing repair and maintenance.