§ Mr. Powleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when further information is to be published on the scheme of assistance for private owners of prefabricated reinforced concrete houses under the Housing Defects Act 1984.
§ Mr. John Fraserasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those orders which have been made under the Housing Defects Act 1984 and those orders which he intends to make in the next six months.
§ Mr. GowMy right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment, for Scotland and for Wales have made the Housing Defects Act 1984 (Commencement) Order 1984 which brings the Act, with the exception of section 28, into effect in Great Britain on 1 December 1984.
My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales, by virtue of the Housing Defects (Prefabricated Reinforced Concrete Dwellings) (England and Wales) Designations 1984, made on 1 November 1984, have designated for the purposes of the scheme of assistance the following classes of building, as defined in the Designations:
- Airey
- Boot
- Cornish Unit
- Dorran
- Dyke
- Gregory
- Myton
- Newland
- Orlit
- Parkinson
- Reema Hollow Panel
- Schindler and Hawksley SGS
- Stent
- Stonecrete
- Tarran
- Underdown
- Unity and Butterley
- Waller
- Wates
- Wessex
- Winget
- Woolaway
The Hamish Cross and Stour types of dwelling are to be designated shortly.
My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Scotland and Wales have laid before the House an order under paragraph 2 of schedule 1 to the Act setting an expenditure limit, for the purpose of calculating the amount of reinstatement grant payable in each case, of £14,000 for all types of defective dwelling under the Act.
Owners of dwellings which are defective dwellings for the purposes of the Act will, from 1 December, be able to apply to their local housing authority for assistance under the Act. Owners will have 11) years from 1 December 1984 133W within which to apply for assistance. The Designations provide that the "cut off date" (ie, the date by which an owner must normally have bought his dwelling in order to be eligible for assistance under the Act) is to be 26 April 1984 for all types of prefabricated reinforced concrete house, except the Airey type, for which the "cut off date" is to be 8 September 1982.
A circular is being sent today to all local housing authorities in England and Wales about the Act and the scheme of assistance for owners of prefabricated reinforced concrete houses. I understand that a circular will be issued to local housing authorities in Scotland shortly.
The Department's discussions with the Building Societies Association and National House-Building Council about arrangements intended to enable building societies to lend with confidence on the security of repaired prefabricated reinforced concrete houses are continuing as a matter of urgency and I hope to be able to make a further announcement about them shortly.