§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Orlit houses there are, including all the variants listed category by category in (a) Edinburgh and (b) Scotland.
§ Mr. AncramThe figures derived from local authority returns are as follows:
Edinburgh Scotland 2, 3, 4-storey PRC framed Orlits 602 6,186 Single storey Orlits* 8 517 Blackburn-Orlits 214 218 TOTAL 824 6,921 * The single storey Orlits do not have prefabricated reinforced concrete frames.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the estimated cost of repairs to the pure Orlit houses in Edinburgh;
(2) what is his estimate of the minimum cost of repairs to an Orlit house or Orlit variant, where there has been deterioration.
§ Mr. AncramThe cost of repairs to prefabricated reinforced concrete houses can vary widely according to the condition of a particular house and the nature of the repairs required. At this stage I am not in a position to say what minimum cost of repairs might be for an Orlit house or Orlit variant.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is meant by the expression in the relevant Scottish Office circular "95 per cent. defect free value of the house";
(2) if a tenant bought an Orlit house or an Orlit variant, prior to knowledge of a defect, how the value of the house will be measured, taking all circumstances into account;
(3) if the occupiers of a defective Orlit house would have to occupy another house, in the case of its repurchase by the local authority;
(4) who would be responsible for providing another house in the event of repurchase from the owner of a defective Orlit house;
(5) if an owner wishes a repair grant on an Orlit house, committing the local authority to do the repairs, whether sufficient funds are made available to both the local authority and to the owner-occupier for this purpose;
(6) whether he will make a statement on the Orlit houses and the variants.
§ Mr. AncramA Bill to give effect to the scheme of assistance announced by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction on 10 November will be introduce as soon as possible. A number of detailed policy and procedural points have however still to be decided and I can offer only provisional comments now.
Subject to parliamentary approval, the broad intention is that where a house is repurchased under the provisions to be included in the Bill, the repurchase price should be 95 per cent. of what the open market value of the house would have been if the structural defect qualifying it for assistance did not exist and was not likely to exist in the property. The value would be reduced to the proportionate extent that the price paid by the applicant on purchase was 497W reduced on account of the defect or possible defect. The basis of individual valuations would be a matter for the District Valuer.
The intention is that the purchasing authority should be require d to offer the individual former owner(s) a secure tenancy; whether in the repurchased house or in alternative accommodation would depend on circumstances.
Local authority expenditure under the scheme would be taken into account in the normal way in determining housing capital allocations. In circumstances where the local authority incur expenditure on reinstatement grant, the intention is to provide Exchequer contributions toward this. It is proposed that the normal rate of grant to the owner should be 90 per cent.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State fir Scotland what he anticipates will happen to defective owner-occupied Orlit houses after repurchase.
§ Mr. AncramThis would be a matter for the purchasing authority.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Building Research Establishment's assessment is going to be made available (a) of pure Orlit homes, and (b) of the Orlit variants.
§ Mr. AncramThe Building Research Establishment published a report on the pure Orlit house in December. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House. I have arranged for a short additional report to be prepared by BRE on the Blackburn-Orlit variant. It is hoped that it will be available by the Spring.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of additional financial support he intends to provide to local authorities to compensate them for the additional costs they will face in dealing with the problems of Orlit houses.
§ Mr. AncramLocal authority expenditure on the proposed scheme of assistance for private owners and on defective houses remaining in their own stock will be taken into account when determining their housing capital allocations.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Orlit houses have been identified in Scotland as having structural faults which will shorten or end their previously predicted life; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AncramThe number of Orlit houses in Scotland with prefabricated reinforced concrete (PRC) frames is about 6,400. It is not known how many of these are showing signs of structural faults at present but the Building Research Establishment has indicated that certain of the faults identified in some of the PRC Orlits are likely to affect all of these houses in time. It is not at present possible to say how their useful life will be affected.
The Government intend to introduce legislative proposals on defective housing shortly. For the moment I have nothing to add to the statement made on 10 November 1983 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction.—[Vol. 48, c. 22.]