§ Mr. Terlezkiasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will urgently consider allocating extra finances to Cardiff city council in order to renovate Smith PRC houses in Cardiff, West; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonNo approved repair method is yet available for Smith PRC houses and Cardiff city council has not sought additional funds from our Department for these properties.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what representation he has received concerning the interpretation of the defect-free value of PRC dwellings under the terms of the Housing Defects Act 1984.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonThe Welsh Office has received representations and inquiries from two local authorities and one housing action group about the interpretation of the defect-free value of PRC dwellings under the terms of the Housing Defects Act 1984 (now part XVI of the Housing Act 1985).
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications have been made to date to each local housing authority in Wales under the Housing Defects Act 1984; how many have been granted; and how many have been rejected for exceeding in cost the value of the dwelling in question.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonThe information on the number of applications made and granted is given in the following table. It is not open to local authorities to reject applications on grounds of cost; where the cost of repair would exceed the value of the repaired dwelling, assistance must he offered by way of repurchase.
307W
Applications received Applications accepted Aberconwy 0 0 Alyn and Deeside 17 15 Arfon 5 0 Blaenau Gwent 0 0 Brecknock 36 36 Cardiff 120 120 Carmarthen 17 17 Ceredigion 0 0 Colwyn 1 1 Cynon Valley 0 0 Delyn 20 20 Dinefwr 0 0 Dwyfor 0 0
Applications received Applications accepted Glyndwr 0 0 Islwyn 170 167 Llanelli 0 0 Lliw Valley 14 11 Meirionnydd 0 0 Merthyr Tydfil 0 0 Monmouth 90 61 Montgomeryshire 0 0 Neath 0 0 Newport 96 96 Ogwr 67 54 Port Talbot (Afan) 47 38 Preseli 8 8 Radnor 10 10 Rhondda 0 0 Rhuddlan 0 0 Rhymney Valley 189 189 South Pembrokeshire 2 2 Swansea 13 13 Taff-Ely 92 86 Torfaen 4 0 Vale of Glamorgan 44 44 Wrexham Maelor 1 1 Ynys Mon 0 0 Wales Total 1,063 989
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many wholesale repurchases of PRC dwellings have been made to date by each housing authority in Wales under the Housing Defects Act 1984 since its inception; and, for each authority, how many have followed rejection of a refurbishment grant application on the grounds of excessive cost.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonThere have been 40 repurchases of PRC dwellings by housing authorities in Wales since the introduction of the Housing Defects Act in December 1984. The information by authority is given in the following table. The reasons for authorities deciding on repurchase instead of reinstatement are not collected centrally.
Authority No repurchase Capital pay Aberconwy 0 0 Afan 0 0 Alyn and Deeside 3 0 308W
District Cost of reinstatement Cost of repurchase December 1984-June 1986 (£'000) April 1986-June 1986 (£'000) December 1984-June 1986 (£'000) April 1986-June 1986 (£'000) Aberconwy — — — — Alyn and Deeside 43 — — — Arfon — — — 30 Blaenau Gwent 18 18 — — Brecknock 113 53 — — Cardiff 78 19 36 7 Carmarthen 98 15 — — Ceredigion — — — — Colwyn Bay — — — — Cynon Valley — — — — Delyn 16 — — — Dinefwr — — — — Dwyfor — — — — Glydwr — — — — Islwyn — — 10 — Llanelli — — — —
Authority No repurchase Capital pay Arfon 0 0 Blaenau Gwent 2 35 Brecknock 6 53 Cardiff 3 n/a Carmarthen 1 15 Ceredigion 0 0 Colwyn 0 0 Cynon Valley 0 0 Delyn 1 0 Dinefwr 0 0 Dwyfor 0 0 Glyndwr 0 0 Islwyn 1 0 Llanelli 0 0 Lliw Valley 0 0 Meirionnydd 0 0 Merthyr Tydfil 0 0 Monmouth 8 23 Montgomery 0 0 Neath 0 0 Newport 0 0 Ogwr 4 0 Preseli 10 0 Radnor 0 0 Rhondda 0 0 Rhuddlan 0 0 Rhymney Valley 0 0 South Pembrokeshire 1 0 Swansea 1 0 Taff Ely 0 0 Torfaen 0 0 Vale of Glamorgan 2 39 Wrexham Maelor 0 0 Ynys Mon 0 0 Wales total 43 165
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the net cost to date and in this financial year to the latest available date, for each local housing authority in Wales of (a) refurbishment grants, (b) wholesale repurchases and (c) wholesale repurchases following rejection of a refurbishment grant application on the grounds of excessive cost under the Housing Defects Act 1984.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonThe cost to date of reinstatement grants and repurchases is given in the following table. The reasons for repurchases by authorities are not held centrally.
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District Cost of reinstatement Cost of repurchase December 1984-June 1986 (£'000) April 1986-June 1986 (£'000) December 1984-June 1986 (£'000) April 1986-June 1986 (£'000) Lliw Valley — — — — Meirionnydd — — — — Merthyr Tydfil — — — — Monmouth 356 24 12 — Montgomeryshire — — — — Neath — — — — Newport 25 — 105 53 Ogwr 20 — — — Port Talbot (Afan) — — — — Preseli 86 — — — Radnor — — — — Rhondda — — — — Rhuddlan — — — — Rhymney Valley — — 249 46 South Pembrokeshire 14 — 9 — Swansea 13 — — — Taff Ely — — — — Torfaen — — — — Vale of Glamorgan — 36 159 87 Wrexham Maelor — — — — Ynys Mon — — — — Total 864 165 571 223 Note: Figures have been rounded.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many refurbishment grant applications made under the Housing Defects Act 1984 have exceeded in value that of the PRC dwelling in question by more than (a) 10 per cent. and (b) 20 per cent. in each housing authority in Wales to date;
(2) what has been the average cost of refurbishment grant applications made under the Housing Defects Act 1984 which have exceeded the value of the dwelling in question: (a) prior to the new grant limit and (b) since the new grant limit.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonI am not aware of any. The relevant legislation provides for assistance by repurchase in cases where the cost of the repair is likely to exceed the value of the dwelling in question.