HC Deb 22 May 1980 vol 985 cc354-5W
Mr. Greville Janner

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest information of the number of council housing starts.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

Local authorities and new towns in England reported starting 54,150 and 8,460 dwellings in 1979 and the first quarter of 1980 respectively.

Mr. Allan Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the figures of the fall in the number of council house approvals from 116,000 in 1975–76 to 33,000 in 1979–80 relate to local authorities only, or to local authorities and new towns; whether these relate to England and Wales or to England alone; and whether for 1979–80 he will give a quarterly breakdown.

Mr. Stanley

The figures cited are the numbers of local authority dwellings in tenders approved in England only. They exclude dwellings acquired by local authorities from developers.

The corresponding figures for each quarter in the financial year 1979–80 are as follows:

April-June 1979 13,315
July-September 1979 7,106
October-December 1979 6,258
January-March 1980 5,971