§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses there were in England in (a) 1971 and (b) 1976 which were both fit for human habitation and possessed all the amenities but needed repairs costing over £1,000 at 1976 prices; how many repairs grants were approved in England in 1976; and approximately, how many repairs grants are expected to be approved when repairs grants become available outside general improvement areas and housing action areas as proposed in paragraph 10.25 of the Housing Green Paper.
§ Mr. ArmstrongIt is estimated that, in 1976, 1.1 million houses which were neither unfit nor lacking amenities needed682W repairs costing over £1,000 at 1976 prices; the comparable figure for 1971 was 0.5 million. In 1976, 144 repair grants were approved in England. I cannot, at this stage, offer any reliable estimate of the number of repair grants which might result from the proposal to extend the availability of such grants.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what net change took place in England in 1976 in the number of houses either unfit for human habitation or lacking basic amenities or needing repairs costing over £1,000; how many houses were added to this stock by deterioration into (a) unfitness and (b) disrepair; and how many houses were subtracted from this stock by slum clearance and improvement.
§ Mr. ArmstrongInformation in this precise form is not available, but estimates can be derived from changes taking place between the 1971 and 1976 House Condition Surveys. These suggest that in each year about 70,000 dwellings become unfit and that about 75,000 additional dwellings required repairs costing over £1,000. On the other hand, some 90,000 dwellings were made fit in each year and approximately the same number not unfit had missing amenities installed. In 1976, 46,464 dwellings in England were demolished or closed under slum clearance proposals. Taking account of the estimated flows in both directions, the number of dwellings unfit, lacking amenities or requiring repairs costing over £1,000 is estimated to have declined at an average rate of about 105,000 per annum between 1971 and 1976.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when the full results of the 1976 House Condition Survey will be published; and if he will give a breakdown by tenure of the number of houses in England requiring repairs.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe full results of the 1976 English House Condition Survey will be published later this year.
A breakdown by tenure of the number of houses in England requiring repairs is shown in the following table:
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684W
REPAIR COSTS AND TENURE England: Thousand dwellings: percentage Repair costs Owner-occupied Rented from local authorities or new towns Other tenures Vacant All tenures Under£250 … … … … 6,515 68.2(57.9) 3,753 78.4(33.4) 808 35.3(7.2) 174 35.0(1.5) 11,250 65.7(100.0) £250–£499 … … … … 1,870 19.6(59.6) 671 14.0(21.4) 493 21.6(15.7) 102 20.5(3.3) 3,136 18.3(100.0) £500–£999 … … … … 220 2.3(44.6) 98 2.0(19.9) 154 6.7(31.2) 21 4.2(4.3) 493 2.9(100.0) £l,000–£l,999 … … … … 496 5.2(43.8) 174 3.6(15.4) 396 17.3(35.0) 67 13.5(5.9) 1,133 6.6(100.0) £2,000–£2,999 … … … … 196 2.1(42.5) 53 1.1(11.5) 168 7.3(36.4) 44 8.9(9.5) 461 2.7(100.0) £3,000–£3,999 … … … … 95 1.0(35.2) 15 0.3(5.6) 126 5.5(46.7) 34 6.8(12.6) 270 1.6(100.0) £4,000 and over … … … … 154 1.6(41.4) 21 0.4 (5.6) 142 6.2(38.2) 55 11.1(14.8) 372 2.2(100.0) Total … … … … 9,546 100.0(55.8) 4,785 100.0(28.0) 2,287 100.0(13.4) 497 100.0(2.9) 17,115 100.0(100.0) Source:—House Condition Survey, England 1976.