§ 45. Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what ad ditional moneys are being made available to local authorities for council house repairs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergIt is for local authorities to decide whether the cost of repairs to their dwellings is financed from revenue or is capitalised. It is also for them to decide, in either case, how much should be spent on repairs. If the cost of repairs is capitalised, it is a charge on their housing investment programme allocation. The need for certain authorities to spend substantial sums on repairs has been taken into account in the HIP allocations.
Normally neither routine nor capitalised repairs are admissible for subsidy, but discussions are being held with the Association of District Councils about the possibility of grant, under section 10 of the New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976, towards the cost of repairing major defects in housing transferred from new town development corporations to local housing authorities.