§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the impact of higher council house rents in Wakefield on housing benefit expenditure.
§ Sir George YoungThe increase in Wakefield city council's rent guideline for the purpose of housing revenue account subsidy in 1994–95 is £2.79 per dwelling per week. On the basis of returns made by Wakefield, if the council increases its actual rents by this amount, the Department estimates that additional rent income will be £5.803 million, of which £3.482 million will be granted in rebates.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account is taken of capital expenditure for the purposes of council house maintenance in assessments for housing revenue account subsidies.
§ Sir George YoungEach housing authority's entitlement to housing revenue account subsidy takes into account annual loan charges on the cost of additional borrowing to finance capital expenditure up to a level related to that authority's annual capital allocations for this purpose.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what his estimate is of the expenditure required to bring all of Britain's council house stock up to fully habitable levels at 1994 prices.
496W
§ Sir George YoungEstimates of the cost of making dwellings fit for habitation in England are contained in the report of the 1991 English house condition survey published in September 1993. For all public sector housing, the backlog of such work is estimated at £780 million at 1994 prices. Matters affecting the housing stock in Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the capital and revenue expenditure was, per council house tenancy, on housing maintenance and repairs for each year since 1979.
§ Sir George YoungCapital and revenue expenditure, in cash terms, on maintenance and repairs per council dwelling in England was as follows:
Year Revenue £ Capital £ 1979–80 n/a n/a 1980–81 171 139 1981–82 189 129 1982–83 218 203 1983–84 256 250 1984–85 272 284 1985–86 289 294 1986–87 296 342 1987–88 326 405 1988–89 365 454 1989–90 406 720 1990–91 487 434 1991–92 509 381 1992–93 545 390 1993–94 1595 1394 1 Estimate. n/a = Not available.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the proportion of the 1994–95 housing revenue account subsidy which will be provided for housing benefits reimbursement.
§ Sir George YoungIt is estimated that, in 1994–95, £3,549 million of housing revenue account subsidy will be paid to housing authorities in England as reimbursement for their rent rebate expenditure—net of the amount funded by HRA surpluses. This is 81 per cent. of the total provision for housing revenue account subsidy for 1994–95 of £4,381 million.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities receive a nil or negative housing revenue account subsidy for the housing element component.
§ Sir George YoungIn 1993–94 there is a negative entitlement to the housing element of housing revenue account subsidy for 282 English housing authorities. No authority has a nil entitlement.