§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he proposes to have with representatives of the Association of Metropolitan Authorities about estimates of repair bills in respect of maintenance of pre-first world war dwellings and post-second world war public sector defective properties and about the extent to which repairs undertaken to existing stock have within the restraints of the investment funds allocated to them squeezed out new-build programmes.
§ Sir George YoungThe Department will shortly be asking local authorities to provide detailed estimates of the costs of repair of the houses and flats they own and manage. This will include properties built before 1919 and defective houses and flats built since the last war. The local authorities' associations have been consulted on the conduct of this inquiry. It is for individual authorities to decide how much of their capital resources to devote to repair of the existing stock.