§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of local authority housing stock in England and Wales, certified to be in need of improvement and/or associated repairs, is likely to be attended to in 1975–76, following the reduction in allocation of loan sanction for the improvement of local authority dwellings under Section 105 of the Housing Act 1974.
§ Mr. FreesonThe House Condition Survey 1971 indicated that about 500,000 dwellings owned by local authorities or new town corporations in England and Wales lacked at least one standard amenity, whilst some 100,000 councildwellings—which may be included in the½million dwellings already mentioned—needed more than £500 worth of repairs.
Between 1971 and February 1975, the latest available date, improvement schemes have been approved for approxi- 310W mately 365,000 council-owned dwellings. Of the new improvement schemes on which English local authorities wished to start work in 1975–76, 48 per cent. were in respect of dwellings claimed to be without a standard amenity, although experience over the last few years since the 1969 Act suggests that in many cases these might cover proposals to replace existing amenities.
The extent to which the sum available for new council-house improvement schemes in 1975–76 is to be devoted to tackling these substandard dwellings, including those purchased from the private sector, is decided by the local authorities concerned. Of the allocations for 1975–76, some 76 per cent. related to expenditure already committed by contracts let before 1st April 1975, most of which was for purpose-built council housing already possessing standard amenities.
For the future I intend to direct progressively more expenditure to those council dwellings which are decaying, obsolescent, and without the standard amenities. I plan to examine more closely, with the co-operation of the local authorities, the nature and scale of their requirements for the improvement and repair of their stock, both purpose-built and acquired.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, further to his written reply to Thursday 24th April, he will explain why the West Lancaster District Council received less than one third of its bid for expenditure under Section 105 of the Housing Act 1974.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe allocation to the West Lancashire District Council reflects the Government's policy of directing available resources for house renovation to those authorities in greatest need, including others in this part of Lancashire. Of the £225,000 allocated to the authority for the current financial year, £150,000 relates to existing contractual commitments leaving £75,000 for new improvement projects. The information supplied by the authority indicates that this should allow reasonable progress to be made towards installing standard amenities in the 177 dwellings in their ownership, or about to be acquired, which remain to be improved.
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