§ 30. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to increase the number of council houses being built(a) for and (b) by local authorities. [36674]
§ Ms KeebleSupport for new affordable housing is mainly available to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) via the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme. We are increasing this programme to over174W £1.2 billion by 2003–04, almost double the amount in 2000–01. Local authorities can also fund provision through their housing capital programme although we expect this to be done through RSLs owing to their greater ability to draw on private sources of funding. £2.6 billion has been provided to support housing investment by authorities in 2001–02, which is three times the amount made available in 1997–98.