§ Lord HYLTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is true that some 13½ years currently elapse between the decision of London local authorities to buy land for housing and the completion of homes on the land; and what they propose to do to reduce the time required to the minimum.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, DEPART-MENT of the ENVIRONMENT (Baroness Birk)No. The figure of 13.6 years is an arbitrary measure obtained by dividing the number of dwellings which might be produced on existing and prospective land acquisitions by an assumed annual rate of completions, all based on statistics for the Greater London Council. Nevertheless, it is true that the housing " pipeline " in London is undesirably long, for private and particularly for public sector housing. The Action Group on London Housing are looking into the facts with a view to identifying the causes and suggesting possible ways to remedy the situation.
House adjourned at six minutes past seven o'clock.