§ Mr. Robert McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to amend the Housing Defects (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 to provide adequate compensation for the owners of Orlit
902W
§ Mr. Moss:The information requested is contained in the following tables. Figures are quoted for both actual numbers of staff and whole time equivalents for both nursing and medical staff, working within occupational Health Departments of the Northern Ireland health and personal social services, as at 30 June of each year.
built dwellings houses; and if owners of such houses are presently being treated in equal legislative and procedural terms to those in Scotland, England and Wales. [5101]
§ Mr. MossI have no plans to amend the Housing Defects (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The housing defects scheme introduced under the order provides compensation for the owners of Orlit dwellings who purchased in good faith from public sector landlords before the defects became generally known. The compensation arrangements for such owners in Northern Ireland is essentially the same as those applying in the rest of the United Kingdom save in two minor respects. First, due to lower house values in Northern Ireland it was decided that repurchase provided better value for money than the reinstatement grant offered to eligible Orlit owners in Great Britain. Secondly, the scheme of assistance for Orlits ended in Great Britain on 30 November 1994 whereas the scheme in Northern Ireland continues until September 1996.