HC Deb 16 February 1976 vol 905 cc558-65W
Mr. Robin F. Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many private houses have been acquired by local councils in each year since 1970 for purposes other than demolition; how many of these were previously rented from private landlords; and what is the average cost of acquisition at the latest available date.

Mr. William Ross

Information is not available about the number of houses acquired by local authorities each year for improvement, and the number of acquired houses previously rented from private landlords. The following table shows the number of houses acquired by local authorities which were included in house improvement schemes approved in the years in question, and the numbers of new houses acquired from private builders:

Year Number of acquired houses included in house improvement schemes approved Number of new houses acquired from private builders
1970 1,034
1971 1,528
1972 918
1973 483
1974 948 79
1975 862 72
The average costs of acquisition were:
Acquired houses included in improvement schemes approved in the first half of 1975–76 £583
New houses acquired in the first half of 1975–76 £11,300

Mr. Robin F. Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is current number and proportion of unimproved pre-1945 council houses in each district and island authority in Scotland.

(a) (b) (c)
Local Authority Number of houses between 1919 and 1944 and unimproved (b) as a proportion of unimproved Council houses built between 1919 and 1944 (all Scotland) Percentage
Highland Region
Caithness 800* 0.52
Sutherland 178* 0.12
Ross and Cromarty 101 0.07
Skye and Lochalsh 31 0.02
Lochaber 253 0.16
Inverness 1,369 0.89
Badenoch and Strathspey 138 0.09
Nairn 205 0.13
Total 3,075 2.00
Grampian Region
Moray 1,117* 0.72
Banff and Buchan 1,207* 0.78
Gordon 1,051* 0.68
City of Aberdeen 4,277* 2.77
Kincardine and Deeside 304 0.20
Total 7,956 5.15
Tayside Region
Angus 1,207 0.78
City of Dundee 5,683 3.68
Perth and Kinross 503 0.33
Total 7,393 4.79
Fife Region
Kircaldy 5,112 3.31
North East Fife 1,057* 0.69
Dunfermline 1,917* 1.24
Total 8,086 5.24
Lothian Region
West Lothian 1,403 0.91
City of Edinburgh 8,427* 5.46
Midlothian 592* 0.38
East Lothian 3,209* 2.08
Total 13,631 8.83
Central Region
Clackmannan 1,497 0.97
Stirling 3,053* 1.98
Falkirk 9,846 6.38
Total 14,396 9.33
Borders Region
Tweeddale 68 0.04
Ettrick and Lauderdale 302 0.20
Roxburgh 1,134 0.73
Berwickshire 298* 0.19
Total 1,802 1.16

Mr. William Ross

The available information is as follows:

(a) (b) (c)
Local Authority Number of houses between 1919 and 1944 and unimproved (b) as a proportion of unimproved Council houses built between 1919 and 1944 (all Scotland) Percentage
Strathclyde Region
Argyll 564* 0.37
Dumbarton 94 0.06
City of Glasgow 46,407 30.07
Clydebank 746* 0.48
Bearsden and Milngavie 382* 0.25
Strathkelvin 1,382 0.90
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 272 0.17
Monklands 6,878* 4.46
Montherwell 9,185 5.95
Hamilton 4,849* 3.14
East Kilbride 332 0.27
Eastwood 551* 0.36
Lanark 2,113 1.37
Renfrew 10,913* 7.07
Inverclyde 1,918 1.24
Cunninghame 2,662* 1.72
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 2,673* 1.73
Kyle and Carrick 2,684* 1.74
Cumnock and Doon Valley Nil* Nil
Total 94,605 61.31
Dumfries and Galloway Region
Wigtown 104 0.07
Stewarty 191 0.12
Nithsdale 2,003* 1.30
Annadale and Eskadale 464* 0.30
Total 2,762 1.79
Island Authorities
Orkney Island Area 137* 0.09
Shetland Islands Area 450* 0.029
Western Isles Islands Area 23* 0.02
Total 610 0.4
Grand Toal 154,316 100.0
*Estimated.

Mr. Robin F. Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of council houses included in, and the estimated cost of, local authority improvement schemes in each district and island authority, or the authorities that they

Local authority Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved fro work start in 1974–75 Total cost at approval stage Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work start from 1st April 1975 t 31st January 1976 Total cost at approval stage Number of council house in improvement schemes approved in principle from 1st April 1975 to 31st January 1976* Total estimated cost at approval stage
£ £ £
HIGHLAND REGION
Caithness 22 42,530 148 158,117
Sutherland 32 7,071 1 4,000
Ross and Cromarty 12 29,245 50 133,480
Skye and Lochalsh
Lochaber 55 19,426 100 26,304 192 135,670

succeeded in 1974–75, and the number and amount that has been approved for each authority so far this financial year.

Mr. William Ross

The following is the information requested:

Local authority Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work start in 1974–75 Total cost at approval stage Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work start from 1st April 1975 to 31st January 1976 Total cost at approval stage Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved in principle from 1st April 1975 to 31st January 1976* Total estimated cost at approval stage
£ £ £
Inverness 30 29,296 152 369,375
Badenoch and Strathspey
Nairn 19 61,866 33 129,819
TOTAL 170 189,434 408 184,421 428 77,234
GRAMPIAN REGION
Moray 39 276,752 50 22,612 69 236,004
Banff and Buchan 795 392,593 689 335,627 58 125,000
Gordon 61 101,054 18 69,520
City of Aberdeen 2,632 1,709,621 600 931,526 2,551 629,793
Kincardine and Deeside 39 44,087 292 99,766 191 197,896
TOTAL 3,566 2,524,107 1,631 1,389,531 2,887 1,258,213
TAYSIDE REGION
Angus 542 470,340 48 76,488 520 681,493
City of Dundee 1,335 2,018,380 64 162,560 3,118 1,107,639
Perth and Kinross 1,079 219,400 2 9,034 4 30,500
TOTAL 2,956 2,708,120 114 248,082 3,642 1,819,632
FIFE REGION
Kirkcaldy 2,309 1,781,699 319 483,400 672 1,756,337
North East Fife 371 340,262 43 50,135 594 353,500
Dunfermline 2,316 997,781 353 561,396 68 204,000[...]
TOTAL 4,996 3,119,742 715 1,094,931 1,334 2,313,837
LOTHIAN REGION
West Lothian 1,353 3,625,361 53 226,206
City of Edinburgh 3,519 4,222,539 720 1,965,915 932 2,774,000
Midlothian 55 224,069 284 1,188,800
East Lothian 582 1,484,908 7 26,370 296 1,239,198
TOTAL 5,509 9,556,877 780 2,218,491 1,512 5,201,998
CENTRAL REGION
Clackmannan 469 492,612
Stirling 873 536,947
Falkirk 953 3,020,998 129 351,640 176 820,860
TOTAL 2,295 4,050,557 129 351,640 176 820,860
BORDERS REGION
Tweedale 16 68,720
Ettrick and Lauderdale 63 114,520 27 42,980 29 79,335
Roxburgh 287 190,074 44 15,452 62 239,886
Berwickshire 59 150,761 36 103,727 114 403,639
TOTAL 409 455,355 107 162,159 221 791,580

Local authority Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work start in 1974–75 Total cost at approval stage Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work start from 1st April 1975 to 31st January 1976 Total cost at approval stage Number of council houses in improvement schemes approved for work state from 1st April 1975 to 31st January 1976* Total estimated cost at approval stage
£ £ £
STRATHCLYDE REGION
Argyll and Bute
Dumbarton 12 13,028
City of Glasgow 4,058 17,391,470 2,631 14,792,247 2,592 18,750,000
Clydebank 1,396 3,642,119 152 397,166 2,684 1,767,846
Bearsden and Milngavie
Strathkelvin 129 241,157 551 1,039,940
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 64 95,909 84 125,000
Monklands 2,848 465,261 292 1,189,784 318 1,858,968
Motherwell 451 1,010,689 702 2,565,452
Hamilton 650 1,367,898 1,022 2,802,468
East Kilbride 98 267,018 98 289,860
Eastwood 176 241,640
Lanark 405 943,249 457 893,232
Renfrew 4,151 740,523 920 343,734 785 2,219,120
Inverclyde 557 850,720 676 989,225
Cunninghame 2,419 2,677,224 746 677,933 673 2,031,996
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 1,487 1,160,747 719 1,595,410 204 332,411
Kyle and Carrick 1,014 545,427 426 454,996 190 452,673
Cumnock and Doon Valley 2,157 1,558,673 1,353 1,246,508 229 227,915
TOTAL 22,060 32,982,248 8,937 24,489,471 9,579 32,567,441
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
Wigtown 36 1,924 206 160,400
Stewartry 44 32,700
Nithsdale 44 80,156 5 26,533 76 28,120
Annandale and Eskdale 37 101,112 19 64,192 145 1,181,325
TOTAL 81 181,268 60 92,649 471 1,402,545
Orkney Islands Area 45 189,000
Shetland Islands Area 78 19,032
Western Isles Islands Area 2 22,100 47 200,702
GRAND TOTAL 42,120 55,786,740 12,883 30,253,475 20,342 47,338,152
* In addition to the numbers approved for work start.