§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the availability of single, non-self-contained rooms in the private sector. [7241]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe rental market is flexible, as evidenced by the recent growth in student accommodation. We believe that it will respond to changes in demand arising from the new housing benefit rules that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security intends to introduce from October 1997 for single people under 60. To encourage people who have spare rooms in their house to let them out, my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget an increase in the current rent-a-room threshold of £3,250. From April 1997, rental income of up to £4,250 will be exempt from tax.
§ Dr. JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of(a) the number of single under-60s living in private deregulated accommodation and (b) the proportion of that accommodation which consists of single, non-self-contained rooms. [7242]
§ Mr. ClappisonAn estimated 430,000 people aged under 60 formed one-person households in the deregulated private rented sector in England in 1995–96, and of these 70,000 were in single non-self-contained rooms. A further 670,000 single people were in house-shares or flat-shares in the deregulated sector. The number of these who had single non-self-contained rooms is not known, although it is likely to be the large majority.
These estimates are from the 1995–96 survey of housing in England and, like all estimates from sample surveys, are subject to sampling variability. The deregulated sector has been taken as all private lettings other than regulated lettings and those not accessible to the public. Single people have been taken as those not living as one of a couple or as a lone parent with a dependent child.