§ Mr. Cordleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish up-to-date figures for the amount outstanding in unpaid rents in the municipal sector and the number of bad debts, namely those likely to be irrecoverable; and whether this figure shows a trend 210W towards increasing or decreasing for municipal housing.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe latest available returns, for the year 1974–75, show that the total rebated rent in England and Wales which remained uncollected at the end of the period was £26.8 million, or 3.7 per cent. of the total collectable. £1.6 million in unpaid rents was written off. The proportion of uncollected rents increased sharply during 1973–74 and 1974–75.