§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) which types of Orlit building will be designated under the Housing Defects Act; and whether they will include (a) two storey flat-roof framed Orlit houses or flats, (b) two storey low-pitched aluminium roof framed Blackburn Orlit houses, (c) two storey pitched and tiled roof framed Scotcon Orlit houses, (d) two storey pitched and tiled framed Scotcon Orlit flats and (e) three storey pitched and tiled roof framed Scotcon Orlit flats;
(2) how many different types of Orlit houses there are in Edinburgh, West constituency;
(3) whether he will consider adding further categories of Orlit variants to those to be designated under the Housing Defects Act if evidence of deterioration emerges at a later stage;
(4) what categories of Orlit houses in Edinburgh, West will be designated under the Housing Defect Act; and how many houses will be designated in each category in Edinburgh, West.
§ Mr. AncramThe Orlit and the Blackburn-Orlit variant will be designated. The essential test in deciding whether any particular building is covered by the Orlit designation will be the presence of an Orlit structural frame, rather than by its name or the external form of the 825W building. If further types are identified which conform to the same principles of construction and are likely to suffer the same defects, then they can be considered for designation. However, my right hon. Friend is not aware that any further Orlit variants require separate designation.
Information on the numbers of Orlit houses on a constituency basis is not available centrally, but it is known that a number of types of Orlit framed dwellngs and the Blackburn-Orlit variant, are present in Edinburgh, West. I understand that there are approximately 636 Orlits and 214 Blackburn-Orlits within Edinburgh district as a whole.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, for tenants living in Orlit houses or Orlit variants, what is the policy of the Government in relation to taking the matter of such homes into account in the allocation of resources to local authorities.
§ Mr. AncramIt is for housing authorities to decide on the priority to be afforded to works on Orlit houses and to include appropriate references in their housing plans and capital programmes. These in turn form the basis of the Government's assessment of relative needs and distribution of the housing capital allocations.
Lord James-Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when remedial work is expected to be necessary for the different categories of Orlit housing to be designated under the Housing Defects Act; and whether compensation will be paid for repair of fittings, central heating and so on after remedial work is carried out.
§ Mr. AncramIt is not possible to give a general answer as to when remedial work may be needed for a particular house or house type. General guidance on condition is contained in the Building Research Establishment reports "The Structural Condition of Orlit Houses", " Blackburn-Orlit Houses: Technical Information", and in BRE Information Paper 10/84.
Section 3(7) of Housing Defects Act sets out the basis on which incidental works can be included for the purposes of grant. However, it will be for authorities to decide what works can reasonably be covered by grant when they come to deal with particular cases.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what account he is taking of the reluctance of proprietors to incur expenses in maintaining and improving their property due to uncertainty about the implementation of the Housing Defects Act; and whether he will make a statement on this and on his visit to see the many different forms of Orlit housing in Edinburgh, West and elsewhere on Friday 19 October.
§ Mr. AncramI am conscious that there has been uncertainty among private owners of prefabricated reinforced concrete dwellings. However, the purpose of the Housing Defects Act is to deal with this uncertainty by offering eligible owners a generous scheme of assistance and by introducing it as soon as practicable.
My recent visit to some Orlit houses in Edinburgh enabled me to see at first hand the main technical features of this form of construction.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will give guidance to planning authorities as to appropriate procedures for redeveloping sites if Orlit houses have to be demolished in circumstances where remedial work is impracticable.
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§ Mr. AncramNo. The use or disposal of land made vacant by the demolition of local authority houses is entirely a matter for that local authority.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland for what period of time the 90 per cent. reinstatement grant will be available for an owner of an Orlit house under the Housing Defects Act.
§ Mr. AncramThe period within which an owner of a designated house type may seek assistance under the Act is to be 10 years from the date on which the designations come into effect.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to give guidance as to the criteria by which the value of Orlit houses or Orlit variants will be determined.
§ Mr. AncramThe criteria by which the value of an interest in a defective dwelling to be repurchased under section 7 is to be assessed are set out in schedule 2 to the Act. The provisions deal with the price payable, the basis of valuation and arrangements for any question arising on valuation to be determined by the district valuer. Reference will be made to these matters in the guidance to be issued to local authorities.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will give guidance to local authorities whose council house tenants have purchased or are seeking to purchase an Orlit house or variant to be designated under the Housing Defects Act on the subjects of mortgages and insurance cover as well as on open market value.
§ Mr. AncramA circular is to be issued to local authorities before the provisions of the legislation come into effect. This will provide comprehensive guidance on all the main provisions of the Act, the operation of the scheme of assistance as it affects owners of designated defective dwellings, and the position of prospective purchasers of defective dwellings under the legislation. In addition, a booklet "Housing Defects: Help for Private Owners in Scotland", is to be published giving information about the assistance which will be available under the Act.