§ Sir E. Bullusasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning land made available for housing since the issue of Circular 10/70.
§ Mr. Graham PageIt is still early days to get an overall picture, but I have had encouraging reports of progress on each of the lines of action recommended to authorities in Circular 10/70. For example, Portsmouth has made a special review of its own land holdings and is to make more than 30 acres of land available for residential owner occupation, while in the West Midlands sales to builders are being accelerated in several important areas such as Coventry, where the council has already sold land for building and is planning to sell more, and Birmingham, where sites for some 680 houses were on offer at the end of February and more may be made available in the near future. Elsewhere a number of planning authorities have taken the initiative in arranging discussions with district councils and builders about land availability proposals. One planning authority in the South-East is discussing the possibility of co-operation between local authorities and private landowners in large-scale housing development. I am hopeful that when we take stock of the situation later this year we shall have made good progress beyond that proposal stage and shall be identifying any obstacles which may remain to be overcome in each area.