§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total amount of money that local authorities were allowed to spend on(a) housing repairs and (b) new build for each of the past 10 years. [105230]
§ Mr. MullinThe size and composition of local authorities' housing capital programmes is for them to decide in the light of the resources available (from their own resources and in allocations from central Government)362W and their assessment of expenditure priorities. Registered social landlords (RSLs) are now the main providers of new social housing as they can, through the use of private finance, deliver higher levels of outputs. RSL new build is supported through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP) as well as by grants from local authorities. Details of central Government allocations to support English local authorities housing capital programmes, a substantial proportion of which goes on renovation of council housing, and the ADP over the past 10 years (in £ million) are as set out.
Local authority housing capital1 ADP2 1991–92 1,682 1,732 1992–93 1,593 2,369 1993–94 1,434 1,843 1994–95 1,220 1,530 1995–96 1,147 1,183 1996–97 1,059 1,068 1997–98 925 702 1998–99 1,210 621 1999–2000 1,252 643 2000–01 1,891 674 1 Excludes allocations for area based regeneration work delivered through the Single Regeneration Budget and Estate Action and the allowance for expenditure assumed to be financed from receipts included in the allocations for individual authorities. 2 Gross expenditure, including support for rough sleepers and City Challenge.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local authority/private partnerships there are in the rented sector, other than housing association partnerships; and what assessment he has made of their effectiveness. [105226]
§ Mr. MullinInformation is not available on how many local authority/private partnerships there are for the provision of housing services in the rented sector. However, eight local authorities in England are piloting arrangements with the private sector for the refurbishment and management of housing stock via the Private Finance Initiative. We will be monitoring the effectiveness of these arrangements as they progress.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total number of houses in multiple occupation in use in each of the past 10 years. [105229]
§ Mr. MullinThere are a number of different types of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). The main information on the numbers of HMOs for England are the English House Condition Survey (which is carried out every five years, the last two surveys being conducted in 1991 and 1996) and the Census (1991). There are no reliable sources of information for the intervening years.
The table provides best estimates for different types of HMOs. This shows a small decline in the number of HMOs from 1991 to 1996. For traditional and purpose built HMOs and converted flats, the building contains more than one accommodation unit and can therefore be fully or partially occupied. This is reflected in the difference between the number of accommodation units provided and the number of households in occupation for these categories of HMO.
363W
Buildings, units of accommodation and households in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in England (all tenures) by given type of HMO, 1991 and 1996 Thousand 1991 1996 Buildings Accommodation units Households Buildings Accommodation units Households Traditional HMOs (bedsits) 75 337 313 64 251 195 Shared houses and flats 220 220 220 201 201 201 Households with lodgers 213 213 213 203 203 203 Purpose built HMOs 2 51 50 4 49 35 Converted flats 250 1,028 956 232 812 754 Total 760 1,849 1,752 704 1,516 1,388 Notes:
- 1. Figures exclude hostels, guest houses, boarding houses and bed and breakfast accommodation. Information for this type of HMO is available only from the 1991 Census which reported 45,000 buildings providing 274,000 units of accommodation under this category.
- 2. There are slight variations between the statistics quoted above and the figures published in the 1996 English House Condition Survey report. This is because of minor modifications made to improve the EHCS database since publication. The modifications do not affect any of the patterns, findings or conclusions contained in the report.
- 3. There is a margin of error involved in the estimates arising from the sample nature of the English House Condition Survey and from the complexities of classifying some types of HMO from information obtained through the Census.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total number of council houses available for rent in each of the past 10 years. [105227]
§ Mr. MullinThe number of local authority-owned properties which were tenanted, or available for letting, in England since 1990 is as follows:
Year Dwellings (million) 1990 3.990 1991 3.859 1992 3.810 1993 3.729 1994 3.637 1995 3.534 1996 3.438 1997 3.369 1998 3.277 1999 3.142 Source:
DETR Annual Housing Investment Programme returns