§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment to how many extra households the housing insulation scheme was extended by his announcement of November 1979; and what has been the extra demand so far.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe homes insulation scheme was extended in November 1979 so that public sector tenants could obtain grants. There is no current estimate of the number of public sector746W households eligible for this grant. At the end of 1978, however, an estimated 2.3 million households in Great Britain in council dwellings had uninsulated loft spaces, and 1.4 million had unlagged hot water tanks. Information on public sector tenants take-up of grants is not yet available.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what applications were made to him by local authorities in 1978–79 and 1979–80 for insulation of their own housing stock; and what was the number of houses insulated.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergLocal authorities were first asked for bids for the public sector energy conservation programme in their housing investment programme submissions for 1979–80. For that year total applications amounted to £29.7 million—at 1979 survey prices. About 250,000 local authority dwellings were insulated in 1978–79 and in 1979–80 the expected figure is about 500,000.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) private houses and (b) council houses have been insulated or lagged under (i) the homes insulation scheme and (ii) the local authority schemes for their own stock.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergFollowing are the available estimates:
LOFT INSULATION (1) UNDER THE ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAMME AND THE HOMES INSULATION SCHEME: ENOLAND Dwellings insulated Energy conservation programme: council dwellings April 1978 to December 1979 665,000 Homes insulation scheme: private dwellings(2) September 1978 to December 1979 486,000 (1) Separate estimates of tank and pipe lagging are not available, but are included, in part, in the numbers of dwellings obtaining loft insulation. (2) The homes insulation scheme was extended to public sector tenants in November 1979. No separate estimates of grants to them are available.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the number of (a) private dwellings and (b) council dwellings which 747W have not yet got insulated lofts and lagged hot water tanks.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergFollowing is the latest available information:
Dwellings with uninsulated loft spaces and unlagged hot water tanks
By Tenure: Great Britain December 1978 Millions of households Council Other With uninsulated loft spaces 2.3 3.3 With untagged hot water tanks 1.4 1.7 Source: Audits of Great Britain Ltd.
1. The estimates are based on a sample of households and are therefore subject to sampling error.
2. "Other" tenures include housing association owned, owner occupied and privately rented dwellings.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what applications were made by local authorities under the Homes Insulation Act 1978 for the years 1978–79 and 1979–80; and what amount of the allocation was taken up in each year.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergLocal authorities were not asked to make bids for allocations under the homes insulation scheme in their housing investment programme submissions for 1978–79 and 1979–80. The allocation made to them for the scheme for 1978–79 was about £22.2 million—at 1979 survey prices—and the outturn was £8.4 million; the allocation for 1979–80 was about £23.5 million—at 1979 survey prices—and the estimated outturn is about £12 million.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what applications for insulation of council housing have been made by local authorities for 1980–81; and what estimates he has made of the amount of the block allocation they will use for this purpose.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergLocal authorities' bids for 1980–81 for the public sector energy conservation programme were £31.5 million—at 1979 survey prices—but no specific allocation for the public sector energy conservation programme has been made in the HIP. The number of local authority dwellings insulated during 1980–81 will depend on the sums allocated out of their block allocations for this purpose by the authorities concerned.