§ Mr. Winnickasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what policy is to be adopted by the Government towards local authority rents for 1982–83; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what was the rent increase for the current financial year which he recommended for local authority tenants in percentage terms; why it was decided to make an increase substantially above the rate of inflation; and if he will make a statement over future local authority rent increases.
§ Mr. StanleyIn his statement on 15 December 1980 my right hon. Friend announced that he had set the increase in local contribution at £2.95 per dwelling per week for 1981.82. In addition he assumed that non-subsidisable housing costs might require rent income of a further 30p per dwelling per week. Whether authorities secure the necessary income for their housing revenue accounts from rents only, or from a combination of rents and rate fund contributions, is a matter for each authority to decide. Should an authority choose to raise its rents by 529W £3.25 a week in 1981–82 that would represent a 40 per cent. increase from estimated average local authority rents for 1980–81 before rent rebates and the housing element of supplementary benefit.
In making his local contribution determination for 1981–82 my right hon. Friend took into account a number of factors, including the decline in rents as a proportion of earnings in recent years, and the protection afforded by rent rebates and supplementary benefit.
530WRent increases for 1982–83 and subsequent years will be influenced by the Government's decisions year by year as to the split between housing capital and housing current public expenditure, and then depend upon authorities' individual decisions on their rent levels in the light of my right hon. Friend's annual determination of the local contribution differential under section 100 of the Housing Act 1980.