§ Mr. Hancockasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses have been sold; how many council houses have been built; and what is the size of the council house waiting list for each year, to the latest available date, for each year since 1983 in (i) Gosport borough council, (ii) Fareham borough council, (iii) Portsmouth city council, (iv) Winchester city council, (v) Havant borough council, (vi) Eastleigh borough council, (vii) New Forest district council, (viii) Test Valley district council, (ix) East Hampshire district council, (x) Basingstoke and Deane district council, (xi) Rushmoor district council, (xii) Hart district council and (xiii) Southampton city council.
§ Mr. John PattenNumbers of new dwellings completed for each of the local authorities in Hampshire and numbers of council dwellings sold by them, appear in the following issues of "Local Housing Statistics", which are available in the Library.
Dwellings completed for the local authority Number 1983 77 1984 78 1985 79 19861 79 1 First half 1986.
All sales of council houses Number 1983–84 75 1984–85 79 1985–86 79 Since publication of issue No. 79, late returns of completions in the first half of 1986 have been received and the full figures for Fareham, New Forest and Rushmoor are, respectively, 16, 87 and 12.
Also, a return of 150 council house sales in 1985–86 has since been received from Havant. Sales figures for the June quarter of 1986–87 are as follows:
682W
Number Basingstoke and Deane 80 East Hampshire 37 Eastleigh 32
Number Fareham 23 Gosport 32 Hart 11 Havant 39 New Forest 48 Portsmouth 106 Rushmoor 38 Southampton 120 Test Valley 44 Winchester 65 The only available figures on councils' housing waiting lists are from the 1986 housing investment programme returns. The numbers of households on the lists at 1 April 1986 and the increase or decrease since 1 April 1985 appear in columns B51 and B53, respectively, of the "HIP1 (1986) all items print", which is available in the Library.
Mr. Andy Stewartasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to review local authority housing revenue accounts; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenFollowing discussions with the local authority associations, I have concluded that it would now be timely to review the operation of the present system of local authority housing revenue accounts. The legislation governing these accounts has remained essentially unchanged for 50 years. During that period there have been considerable developments in housing policy, and in accounting and financial management techniques. One purpose of the review will be to assess the implications of these developments for housing finance. The terms of reference for the review, which have been agreed with the local authority associations, are as follows:
To review the present legislation and conventions relating to housing revenue accounts, in the light of the other responsibilities of local authorities and current best practice, in order to devise a modified financial structure for the provision of housing by local authorities under part II of the Housing Act 1985 which will encourage effective financial management.
The review, which will also extend to Wales, will be carried out by a joint working party of officials from my Department, with Welsh Office and the local authority associations. They will consult as necessary with the Audit Commission and the professional bodies, and submit a report to the housing consultative council.
§ Mr. Keyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take action against local authorities whose revenue expenditure on management and maintenance of their housing stock is less than the amount reckonable for housing subsidy.
§ Mr. John PattenMy Department has written today to the local authority associations to consult them on proposals for modifying the provisions of the general determination of reckonable expenditure on management and maintenance to be made for 1987–88. It is proposed that entitlement to housing subsidy should be based either on a notional amount obtained by adding a percentage increase to reckonable expenditure for the previous year, in accordance with previous practice, or on an authority's actual expenditure on management and maintenance, whichever is the lower.
A small number of authorities have been changing their method of financing repairs in such a way as to reduce their revenue expenditure and increase their entitlement to 683W housing subsidy. To prevent further authorities doing so, my Department is also proposing to the local authority associations that the general determination of reckonable expenditure for 1986–87 should be amended by deducting from reckonable expenditure any shortfall in an authority's actual expenditure on management and maintenance in 1986–87 which is attributable to a change in financing practice made after today.
Comments on these proposals have been invited by 19 January so that they can be considered alongside the responses by the associations to proposals about other aspects, and the general determinations for 1987–88 can be made before the end of January.