§ Sir David Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when his Department will conclude its discussions with the National House Building Council to establish agreed standards of repairs to the various types of prefabricated reinforced concrete dwellings designated under the Housing Defects Act 1984.
§ Mr. GowThe National House Building Council—NHBC — has agreed that it will set up arrangements under which
- (1) methods of repairing prefabricated reinforced concrete (PRC) houses of types designated under the Housing Defects Act will be assessed;
- (2) works of repair by an approved method will be inspected while they are in progress; and
180 - (3) a warranty for two years in respect of the repairs will be given by the designer or repairer and guaranteed by the NHBC, which will then provide insurance in respect of the repairs for a further eight years.
The details of the arrangements are being finalised in consultation with the relevant Departments.
From discussions with representatives of building societies, I am confident that houses repaired under these arrangements will generally be acceptable to building societies as security for lending, subject to the usual requirements when a society considers lending on mortgage in any particular case.
As soon as the arrangements are finalised, the Department intends to consult the local authority associations urgently and following that to write to local authorities to inform them of the arrangements and of how they will affect the administration of the scheme of assistance under the Act. The Scottish and Welsh Offices will be taking similar action. But I expect that it will be possible for methods of repair to be received for appraisal shortly, leading to approval for warranty as soon thereafter as practicable.