§ 26. Mr. Willie W. Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what new initiatives he has in mind for the solution of the housing problem in Scotland.
§ Mr. RifkindWe shall continue to pursue those policy initiatives which, since 1979, have succeeded in increasing the percentage of families in Scotland who are owner-occupiers from 35 per cent. to over 42 per cent., and which have seen the completion of 140,000 new homes, the inclusion of 210,000 council homes in modernisation schemes, the halving of the number of houses below the tolerable standard and the trebling of the number of sheltered and amenity dwellings for the elderly and disabled. We shall encourage initiatives to bring empty council housing back into use and to introduce greater diversity of management and tenure into council estates.