§ 63. Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on initiatives being taken in collaboration with the private sector to improve public sector housing in inner-city areas.
§ Mrs. RoeWe are undertaking a number of major initiatives to attract the skills and resources of the private sector into public sector housing, particularly in inner city areas. In 1985 we launched the estate action team to develop with local authorities packages of solutions for the difficult to let housing estates. A key aim is to involve the private sector wherever possible in these packages, for example through a housebuilder or developer refurbishing rundown empty properties for onward sale or renting. More than 20 of the 138 estate action schemes approved in 1986–87 include private sector investment which will provide up to 3,000 new or refurbished houses. We aim to improve this figure this year.
The estate action team's work is complemented by a range of financial incentives to include the private sector in housing initiatives generally, where an additional public sector input is needed. The unit itself has £75 million in 1987–88 (£50 million in 1986–87) to allocate in support of its packages. We have also made available £30 million to the Housing Corporation this year to allocate to projects, including homelessness schemes, which will draw in a further £70 million in private investment, and urban development grant (up to £30 million in 1987–88) continues to be available to enable a wide range of projects, including housing schemes, to go ahead in inner city areas.
In the forthcoming Housing Bill we will be taking two new initiatives which will build on estate action's work. First, in areas where social problems and housing disrepair are particularly serious, housing action trusts will be set up to carry out improvements using both public and private sector resources before transferring the stock to new owners and managers. Secondly, we are introducing in the Bill arrangements to allow council tenants to choose to transfer to other, private landlords. As well as creating greater choice and efficiency, this move will also lead to more private investment in rented housing overall.