§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the reply of 14 July, Official Report, column 322, what assumptions the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State had in mind concerning the 828W relationships between different sectors of the housing market in order to prepare estimates of the current shortfall between demand for and the supply of public rented accommodation to meet both general and special needs which cannot be met by other means; and what evidence his Department has concerning the extent to which such assumptions may or may not hold true over time.
§ Mr. TraceyThis Government have brought about fundamental changes in the housing market by making it possible for almost three quarters of a million council tenants in England to buy their own homes, and by encouraging the private sector to cater for a much wider range of housing needs. For the future, we are aiming for further, equally fundamental, changes through further increases in owner-occupation and the creation of a healthy and diversified private rented sector. Because of the changing interplay of all these factors, it would be inappropriate at the present time to make detailed assessments of the balance of supply and demand for public rented housing.