§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to publish the 1981 Welsh house condition survey.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsThe report is being published today and I have placed a copy in the Library.
The results of the survey show that the overall level of dwellings categorised as unfit has fallen slightly since 1976 when the last survey was carried out and there has been a substantial decrease in the number of dwellings lacking one or more of the basic amenities. But clearly much remains to be done.
The survey shows that the most important factor influencing unfitness is the age of the property—over 20 per cent. of the houses built before 1919 are categorised as unfit and many of them lack basic amenities. These results bear out our recent decision to extend to 1984 the period during which 90 per cent. repair and intermediate home renovation grants can be paid. These grants are specifically available to carry out repairs to pre-1919 houses and to install missing amenities.
A distrubing trend brought out by the results is the apparent increase in the incidence of substandard housing in the inner city areas and the introduction of the enveloping concept which I announced recently is intended to get to grips with this problem in particular.
I am also very concerned about the high number of pensioner households shown to occupy houses which are unfit or lack some basic amenities. I am looking very closely at ways of remedying this situation.