§ Miss Quennellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how the number of households compares with the number of dwellings in the United Kingdom, and in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, respectively.
§ Mr. EyreThe latest available estimates relate mainly to mid-1971:
Households Dwellings (million) England 15.89 16.07 Wales 0.91 0.96 Scotland 1.68 1.80 Northern Ireland 0.43 0.46* United Kingdom 18.91 19.29 * Census estimates for April 1971. A household may contain several families and for this and other reasons the number of households does not measure the number of dwellings required. Estimates of housing need in Great Britain have recently been published in Social Trends (Issue No. 3 Table 102) at 16.31 million in England, 0.97 million in Wales and 1.79 million in Scotland. Even these figures conceal regional and local differences which are important in assessing housing needs; regional estimates are shown in Social Trends. These estimates will be revised when the 1971 census information is more fully analysed.