§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the list recently compiled 604W by his Department's urban housing renewal unit of developers wishing to refurbish local authority housing stock for sale; which local authorities have been sent copies of it; and if he will explain on what basis such a list has been compiled.
§ Sir George YoungThe Department's urban housing renewal unit can provide local authorities on request with a list of builders and developers interested in undertaking joint venture schemes in their areas. This list is provided for information and the unit does not endorse or recommend the services of these firms. The list has been compiled from firms who have indicated their interest to UHRU and it can be added to at any time.
The full list comprises:
- Ackroyd and Abbot Ltd
- Barratt Urban Renewal Ltd
- Bellway plc
- Costain Homes Ltd
- Countryside Properties plc
- Cruden Constuction Ltd
- Fairclough Building Ltd
- Foilgrange Ltd
- P Hassall Ltd
- Ideal Homes Holdings plc
- William Irwin and Co Ltd
- Laing Homes (London)
- PROBE Ltd
- Regalian Properties plc
- Summit Homes Ltd
- Taylor Woodrow Homes Ltd
- Watkin Starbuck and Jones Ltd
- William Davis Ltd
- George Wimpey plc
- Cecil M Yuill Ltd
At their request, the following authorities have received a list of developers named above who are interested in joint venture housing in their areas:
- Birmingham
- Bolton
- Bradford
- Gateshead
- Harrow
- Kingson-upon-Hull
- Leeds
- Manchester
- Solihull
- South Holland
- Stafford
- Wandsworth
- Westminster
§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to alter his Department's arrangements for the employment of the consultant to the urban housing renewal unit who also sits on the board of the firm PROBE; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungNo, the urban housing renewal unit does not offer its consultants' services to local authorities where any possible conflict of interest might exist. All the unit's consultants are bound by the terms of their appointment to declare any possible self-interest in any matters on which they might be asked for advice.