§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the number and percentage of families living in their own homes (a) in 1979 and (b) now;
(2) what information he has concerning the size and quality of the housing stock in England (a) now and (b) in 1979; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TraceyIt is estimated that there were about 18.8 million dwellings in England at the end of September 1986, of which 12.2 million (65 per cent.) were owner-occupied. The corresponding figures for the end of March 1979 were 17.6 million dwellings, of which 10.0 million (57 per cent.) were in owner-occupation.
Reliable information on the quality of the country's housing stock is available only from the quinquennial English "House Condition Surveys": copies of the 1981 report, which also contains results for 1971 and 1976, are available in the Library. Results of the 1986 survey are not yet available.
Since the Government came into office in 1979, the English housing stock has increased by 1.2 million, while owner-occupation has grown by 2.2 million, an unprecedented rate of increase reflecting the success of the right-to-buy scheme. Private spending on maintaining and improving housing has been assisted by the payment of nearly 1.1 million renovation grants, and there have been 600,000 renovations of local authority and new town dwellings.