§ Mr. Raynsfordasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the average level (a) of local authority rents and (b) of fair rents registered for unfurnished lettings in England in each of the years from 1979 to 1986, indicating the percentage increase in each on an annual and cumulative basis; and how these increases compare with the movement of the retail price index over that same period.
§ Mr. TraceyThe figures on local authority rents, the average rents registered by rent officers and the movements in the retail prices index, are as follows:
683W
Average weekly rents1 England Retail prices index United Kingdom April LA (unrebated) April Fair rents Unfurnished tenancies2 1st half year per cent. increase per cent. increase £ over year since 1979 £ over year since 1979 1979 6.41 39.00 1980 7.70 20 20 310.40 22 22 1981 11.42 48 78 11.8 12 36 1982 13.48 18 110 13.85 9 49 1983 13.97 4 118 14.15 4 55 1984 14.66 5 129 16.65 5 63 1985 15.54 6 142 16.85 7 75 1986 16.36 5 155 19.75 3 80 1service charges, if any, are included in fair rents, but not in local authority rents 2registered rents for private regulated tenancies only 3England and Wales The mix of properties for which rents are registered varies from year to year for a number of reasons: for example, extension of decontrol in 1981; the reduction from three to two years in the minimum period for re-registration which led to re-registrations in 1983 of rents previously registered in 1980 and 1981. Therefore, comparisons of averages for consecutive years do not properly reflect rent movements. Better estimates of rent movements are derived from previous and new registered rents for tenancies where there has been no material change in terms or in the physical condition. For properties with rents fixed in the first halves of 1979, 1982, 1984 and 1986, the estimated increases are:
per cent. increase in period annualised per cent. increase 1979–82 50 14 1982–84 21 10 1984–86 17 8