§ Mr. John Evansasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total number of houses, fit and unfit, cleared by local authorities under all headings in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight English regions served by an economic planning council in the last year for which figures are available; and what were the figures for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe numbers of houses demolished or closed under slum clearance powers, in the first nine months of 1974 and the previous five years are given below:
§ Mr. KaufmanCosts and benefits of thermal insulation vary according to the type, size and existing construction of a house and its climatic location. They also depend on the extent to which the householder opts to save fuel or to enjoy higher temperatures. Thus no general answer is possible.
My Department is conducting a range of experiments to determine optimum forms and levels of insulation and the savings achieved in practice.