§ Mr. Robert C. Brownasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the average increase in the rents of council house tenants since May 1979; what percentage this represents; and if he will seek to impose a moratorium on council house rents for the whole of the current year.
§ Mr. Stanley[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1982, c.320]: The average rent paid—before deducting rent 461W rebate or the rent element of supplementary benefit—by local authority tenants in England and Wales, excluding new towns, in April 1979 is estimated at £6.40 per dwelling per week. the latest comparable figure for October 1981 is provisionally estimated at £11.54. The increase is thus 80 per cent. These figures are derived from returns made by local authorities to CIPFA, and to the Department in claiming housing subsidy. The April 1979 figure has already been published in "Housing and Construction Statistics, No 32".
The Government do not propose any change in policy during 1982 when the levels of council house rents will be determined by each local authority in the light of the determinations of reckonable income announced by my right hon. Friend in the House on 15 December 1980 and 21 December 1981.