§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current programme of work of his Housing Development Directorate; what studies were published by it over the last 12 months; and how many of those studies were of direct relevance to private housing.
§ Mr. FreesonThe Housing Development Directorate has a continuing responsibility to provide information about the social, technical and cost aspects of housing policy. Its aim is to help both the public and private sectors to produce better solutions, increase productivity and obtain better value for money.
Sociological work includes studies of the housing needs of special groups, such as the disabled and single people. Design and technical studies include landscaping, parking, garaging and estate roads, dimensional co-ordination and energy conservation. Movements in the level of costs of labour and materials are constantly monitored. The following is a list of HDD publications over the last 12 months:
Housing Development Notes
Landscape of new housing: Part 3—Shrubs in housing (February 1974).
Security in housing (November 1973).
Thermal insulation in housing: Part 1— The case for better insulation (December 1973).
Thermal insulation in housing: Part 2— Relationship between construction and heating costs (December 1973).
(These notes are of direct relevance to private housing.)
Housing Development Papers
2/73 Local Authority Housing: A comparative study of the land use and built form of 110 schemes (August 1973).
3/73 Vandalism: A constructive approach (November 1973).
1/74 The quality of local authority housing schemes (February 1974).
439WIn addition the following Design Bulletins were issued between February 1972 and September 1973—all of which contained material relevant to private housing:
Spaces in the home Part 1—Bathrooms and WCs.
Part 2—Kitchens and laundering spaces.
The estate outside the dwelling; reactions of residents to aspects of housing layout.
New housing and road traffic noise: a design for architects.
Children at play.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present staffing establishment of his Housing Development Directorate; and whether he will list the number of officials in each Civil Service grade.
§ Mr. FreesonThe present staff of the Housing Development Directorate is 84. They are distributed through 25 different grades, comprising Director "A" to PTO IV in the professional and technical grades (47), Principal Research Officer to Assistant Research Officer in the research field (12) and Administrative Principal to Clerical Assistant (25).
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many officials in his Housing Development Directorate have architectural qualifications; how many have qualified as chartered surveyors; how many have engineering qualifications; and how many have degrees in sociology.
§ Mr. FreesonThe officials in the Housing Development Directorate with architectural qualifications total 25, and those qualified as chartered surveyors 13. There is one with engineering qualifications and there are 12 social scientists with degrees in sociology, social administration, psychology, social anthropology, etc.