§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will introduce new measures in Wales designed to expedite slum clearance.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasThe Housing Finance Bill provides for slum clearance subsidy to be paid to meet 75 per cent. of the loss incurred by a local authority in the exercise of their slum clearance functions, for 1971–72 and subsequent years.
§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales when, at the present rate of progress, he expects all slums to be cleared from Wales.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasLocal authorities estimate that there are 24,000 unfit houses in Wales, but the Welsh House Condition Survey of 1968 suggested that there were then about 42,000 houses in clearance or potential clearance areas which should be regarded as unfit. Allowance must now be made for clearance which has taken place since and for additional houses which have become unfit. The average annual rate of clearance achieved over the last five years is 2,432, but the new slum clearance subsidy proposed in the Housing Finance Bill should enable local authorities to increase the rate of clearance.
§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many houses would need to be cleared annually in Wales in order to clear all the slums by 1980.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasConsiderably more than the average achieved in recent years.