§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many non-decent social homes there are; how many there were in 1997; and what funds he has allocated to reducing the numbers in future years. [174843]
§ Keith HillIn 1997 there were 2.13 million non-decent homes in the social sector. The estimate for March 2004 is 1.17 million.
Between April 2004 and 2006 Local Authority plans indicate that they will spend £5.7 billion on their existing stock, the majority of which is allocated by Central Government with some from Local Authorities' own resources. This includes work beyond the decent homes standard and work to prevent dwellings from becoming non-decent as well as work to the existing non-decents. Registered Social Landlords will mainly use their own resources on improving their stock.