HC Deb 04 April 1979 vol 965 cc854-6W
Mr. Litterick

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what grant has been made available to the council of the city of Birmingham in respect of the financial year 1979–80, for the purposes of house building, housing acquisitions and house renovations; and how much of this grant the Birmingham city council now proposes to use in the forthcoming year.

Mr. Armstrong

It is not possible to separate housing allocations into the several activities which make up a housing programme. Cash limit allocations are made to all authorities each year under the housing investment programme system: the amount of subsidy and grant made available to each authority depends on the nature and level of activities each authority undertakes.

The city of Birmingham received a provisional allocation of £86.039 million for

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM: HOUSING INVESTMENT
£000s
Expenditure Allocations
1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
Block 1 31,780 52,634 65,519 58,804 67,000 63,965
New housebuilding
Land purchase slum clearance
Renovations of local authority stock
Municipalisation
Block 2 21,387 25,569 4,772 4,084 7,700 13,917
Private sector improvements grants
Local authority mortgage lending
Block 3 3,987 4,864 4,888 5,120 5,100 8,557
Lending to housing associations for:
1. New housebuilding
2. Acquisition and improvement
Total 57,154 83,067 75,179 68,008 79,800 86,039

Mr. Litterick

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what central Government finance was requested by the council of the city of Birmingham for the purposes of house building, acquisition and renovation, in respect of the financial year 1979–80.

Mr. Armstrong

In October 1978, the city of Birmingham submitted a bid for £70 million expenditure in its 1979–80 housing investment programme, in November 1977 price terms. An allocation of £86.039 million has been made.

Mr. Churchill

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the total capital expenditure on housing in the North-West of England and the percentage of national expenditure on housing which this figure represented in the financial year 1978–79; and what were the equivalent figures for the year 1973–74 updated to current prices;

1979–80 an amount calculated to meet its bid in full at anticipated out-turn prices. I understand that the city's latest forecast of expenditure in 1979–80 is £70 million.

Mr. Litterick

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what grants have been made by his Department to the council of the city of Birmingham for the purposes of house building, acquisition and renovation during each financial year since February 1974.

Mr. Armstrong

Cash limits for total housing investment were introduced from the outset of 1978–79. For early years, the only information available relates to actual expenditure. The table below shows this:

(2) what was the total capital expenditure on housing in the Trafford district of Manchester in the financial year 1978–79; and what was the equivalent figure for the year 1973–74 updated to current prices.

Mr. Armstrong

I regret that the information requested, which would cover both the private and the public sectors, is not available.