§ 50. Sir John Biggs-DavisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation so as to amend the Housing Defects Act to attach grants for repairs to the property and not to its owner.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe have no plans to do so. I am writing to my hon. Friend, setting out our reasons for this.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in reviewing the national grant eligible expenditure limits under the housing defects legislation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have decided that the national limits set in 1986 need revision, given that a year and a half has passed since they came into force and that we now have much more experience of actual repair costs. In the light of all the information available, we are proposing the following new limits:
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House type Proposed limit Present limit £ £ Local designations and any new designations 14,000 14,000 Cornish unit: 1 storey PRC 17,000 14,000 Dorran: 1 storey PRC 17,000 16,000 Gregory 17,000 14,000 Myton: 1 storey PRC 17,000 16,000 Newland: 1 storey PRC 17,000 16,000 Tarran: 1 storey PRC 17,000 14,000 Unity and Butterly: 1 storey PRC 17,000 20,000 Wessex: 1 storey PRC 17,000 24,000 Cornish unit: 2 storey PRC 23,000 16,000 Stent 23,000 20,000 Unity and Butterly: 2 storey PRC 23,000 20,000 Airey 27,000 16,000 Boswell 27,000 14,000 Dorran: 2 storey PRC 27,000 16,000 Dyke 27,000 24,000 Myton: 2 storey PRC 27,000 16,000 Newland: 2 storey PRC 27,000 16,000 Reema Hollow Panel 27,000 20,000 Schindler and Hawksley SGS 27,000 24,000 Smith 27,000 20,000 Stonecrete 27,000 16,000 Tarran: 2 storey PRC 27,000 14,000
House type Proposed limit Present limit £ £ Underdown 27,000 20,000 Waller 27,000 24,000 Wates 27,000 20,000 Winget 27,000 20,000 Boot 31,000 20,000 Orlit 31,000 24,000 Parkinson 31,000 20,000 Wessex: 2 storey PRC 31,000 24,000 Woolaway 31,000 20,000 These changes should help speed up the administration of the scheme. At present, local authorities often have to apply for individual higher eligible expenditure limits for particular properties: the new limits should reduce considerably the need for that. My officials will now be consulting the local authority associations, home owners groups, approved repairers and other interested bodies on these proposals. We hope to have all responses by early April and to reach a final decision soon after that. Bringing the new limits into force requires a negative resolution of the House of Commons. We hope to make such an order by May, so that new limits can be in operation by June.