§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of England's housing stock is constructed or adapted to meet the needs of physically disabled people at the latest date for which information is available; if he will break this information down into categories of housing tenure; what plans he has to enhance the availability of such housing stock; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungThe Department collects information for England on building starts and completions of specialised housing for the chronically sick and disabled, and on conversions or improvements for disabled persons, but not on the stock of such dwellings for physically disabled people.
The available figures of housebuilding starts and completions by housing associations and local authorities for the chronically sick and disabled are shown in "Housing and Construction Statistics". Provisional data for 1993–94 in England are to be published shortly in the March quarter 1993 issue, part 1, and these are given in the table.
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New housebuilding completions for the chronically sick and disabled England: 1993–94 Housing associations Local authorities Totals Wheelchair 136 7 143 Mobility 810 59 869 All 946 66 1,012 The numbers of dwellings converted or improved for disabled persons are published in "Housing and Construction Statistics". The latest available financial year figures are for 1992–93 and are on tables 2.19 and 2.20 of the December quarter 1993 issue, part 2.
All new housing association dwellings are required to be built to mobility standards. Allocations and priorities for local authority dwellings are determined by the individual authorities. The Department is considering whether to extend part M of the Building Regulations to cover all new buildings.