§ Mr. William Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many houses were built or completed in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector in Northern Ireland in each year since 1954; and what is the estimate for 1985.
§ Mr. Chris Patten[pursuant to his reply, 17 December 1984, c. 59]: The available information is contained in the housing returns for Northern Ireland for the periods from December 1954 to end December 1968, the "Digest of Housing Statistics for Northern Ireland" for the period end December 1968 to end September 1973 and the Northern Ireland housing statistics publications for the period end September 1973 to end December 1983; statistics for 1984 will be published in mid-1985. The public expenditure allocations for housing in 1985–86, which I announced on 13 December 1984, assume that 2,250 new dwellings will be started by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and almost 1,000 by registered housing associations. No precise estimates have been made of new house building starts or completions in the private sector in 1985, although I look forward to the continuation of tie current levels of activity.