§ Mr. Bostonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to require local authorities to provide him with information about their housing lists.
§ Mr. MellishNo. A housing waiting list is of limited value as an indicator of housing need. Where the waiting list is long, many families in urgent need of housing do not bother to register; lists 125W are often out of date and sometimes they have been closed altogether.
In a circular issued on 1st April my right hon. Friend asked authorities to make a fresh review of the housing needs of their areas and then to submit four year building programmes. Information submitted in this way will be of more value than the information to which my hon. Friend refers.