§ 57. Mr. Longdenasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is his estimate of the number of controlled tenancies which will be brought into the fair rent system by the Housing Bill 1969; and what are his proposals for dealing 57W with the tenancies which are not brought into such system.
§ Mr. MacCollIt has been tentatively estimated that some 400,000 controlled tenancies might be brought into the fair rent system by the Bill. About 200,000 are thought to be already in the required state and the rest to be capable of being brought up to the required state at a reasonable cost.
My right hon. Friend has no plans for bringing into the fair rent system those controlled tenancies which are neither in nor capable of being brought up to the required state, but the Bill allows some flexibility in grant-aiding partial improvement, enables local authorities to acquire properties, extends their power to deal with properties requiring substantial repairs, and improves the payments they can make for unfit property to be cleared away.