§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many official visits have been paid by Ministers in his Department to Manchester since May, 1971, to discuss with the Manchester City Council the housing problems of the city; and what results have ensued since their visits.
§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many public sector houses are envisaged in building schemes submitted to him by the Manchester City Council since May, 1971; and if he will list each scheme for which he has given loan sanction, indicating the number of dwellings involved and the provisional cost for which the sanction was granted.
§ Mr. AmeryThe following are the schemes for which tenders have been accepted and subsidies approved since May, 1971:
Scheme Number of dwellings Erection costs £ Longsight 4 and 7 680 2,883,324 Denton Main Centre 81 314,456 Butterworth Street 117 483,704 Various Small Sites 2/3 63 252,212 Various Small Sites 3/1 165 535,706 Galston Street 264 1,063,913 Dam Head Farm 591 2,268,477 Longsight 3 and 5 466 2,110,276 Johnson Street Extension 12 37,012 Colshaw Farm Phase 2 138 637,147 Merryfield Street/Smedley Street 87 369,556 Derry Street Phase 2 45 221,925 Elland Street 184 793,015 Denton (Houghton Green) 14 49,290 Longsight 6 175 946,779 Monton Street 240 1,064,746 Galston Street Extension 12 38,968
§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet in a position to make a statement on the response of Manchester City Council to his request that land should be made available for housing.
§ Mr. AmeryOne of the Government's actions to make more land available for housing has been to set up under their 113W own auspices meetings with the builders and planning authorities in each region to identify the particular problems concerned and to try to solve them. My Department will pursue any local problems that are shown up.
§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now make a statement on recent action which he has taken to persuade the Manchester City Council to follow his policy of offering council houses for sale to sitting tenants.
§ Mr. AmeryThe City Council, like all other housing authorities in England, will have received a copy of Circular 56/72 issued on 13th June urging all local authorities which have been reluctant to sell council houses to those tenants wishing to buy them to reconsider their policies.
§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent his proposals for increasing the supply of homes for sale will enable more building for home ownership to be undertaken by private enterprise within the City of Manchester; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AmeryI am sure that the action being taken by the Government generally to increase the supply of new homes to own should be of as much benefit in Manchester as elsewhere. But progress must depend also on the planning authorities, such as Manchester City Council, actively assisting by trying to ensure an adequate supply of land.