HC Deb 18 December 2001 vol 377 c223W
Ms Buck

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many properties(a) in London as a whole and (b) in each London borough have rents above the relevant rent cap for their size; and what percentage these properties represent of the relevant categories of housing stock in both local authority and RSL sectors. [23078]

Ms Keeble

Estimates based on the 1996 English House Condition Survey (the latest suitable data available) suggest that in London as a whole around 30,000 local authority properties and 15,000 RSL properties currently have rents above the relevant rent cap for their size. These properties represent around 5 per cent. of the local authority housing stock and 7 per cent. of the RSL stock in London in 1996. We expect the number of properties with rents above the relevant cap to be reduced by rent restructuring. We do not have equivalent information at an individual London borough level.

Martin Linton

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many RSL tenants in(a) Battersea and (b) Wandsworth (i) pay rent above £100 per week and (ii) would have their rent reduced under rent restructuring in April 2002. [22947]

Ms Keeble

The information is not available. To avoid excessive administrative burden, information is not collected centrally on the rents of individual properties owned by local authorities and RSLs. Moreover, individual landlords retain responsibility for rent-setting.