§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in theOfficial Report in rank order, starting with the local authority with the highest proportion of rent arrears, the total arrears of rent outstanding for domestic properties owned by each local authority in the county of Essex for the latest available date and for 1982–83.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe cumulative rent arrears owed to each local authority in Essex as at 1 April 1983 and 1 April756W 1987, together with the percentage those arrears represent of the rent collectable, are listed as follows. The authorities are ranked according to the percentage figure.
Rent arrears (£) Rent arrears as percentage of rent collectable i. at 1 April 1983: Thurrock 859,775 6.08 Basildon 197,000 4.26 Castle Point 69,468 3.13 Uttlesford 74,000 2.26 Brentwood 62,000 2.21 Epping Forest 178,237 2.18 Harlow 258,500 2.17 Chelmsford 122,721 1.89 Colchester 123,489 1.81 Braintree 135,702 1.59 Maldon 30,453 133 Southend on Sea 102,794 1.32 Tendring 43,769 1.31 Rochford 10,965 0.52 ii. at 1 April 1987: Thurrock 1,010,011 7.5 Colchester 236,634 2.8 Basildon 148,195 2.55 Uttlesford 92,000 2.47 Castle Point 46,719 1.99 Harlow 244,391 1.83 Chelmsford 125,672 1.64 Southend on Sea 133,150 1.44 Epping Forest 116,667 1.42 Maldon 32,053 1.42 Tendring 55,095 1.41 Brentwood 40,000 1.15 Braintree 81,485 0.83 Rochford 13,328 0.53
§ Mr. KirkhopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the latest available figures on the arrears of rent outstanding to each local authority in England; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have today arranged for this information to be placed in the Library. All but 26 authorities provided figures on their subsidy claim forms, and figures for the missing 26 were provided to my Department over the telephone.
The figures show that, at 1 April 1987, rent arrears owing to all English local authorities amounted to almost £196 million, or 5.1 per cent. of the rent collectable. The total is some £15 million less than at 1 April 1986, when arrears stood at £211 million (5.7 per cent. of rent roll). However, we know that, in the past, some authorities provided figures for all arrears outstanding—rents, rates and service charges—while for 1987 some of these have made an estimate of rent arrears alone. These reporting changes could account for the whole of the apparent improvement, and we believe that there has been little change in the total level of rent arrears between April 1986 and April 1987.
Over 150 authorities have reported arrears of less than 2 per cent., and some of these are below 1 per cent. Once again it is the few poorly-performing authorities which are mainly responsible for the enormous sums due. The 20 worst authorities—17 of which were on the 1986 list of poor performers — have reported arrears of rent collectable ranging from nearly 8 per cent. to 38 per cent., and together were carrying a debt burden of £92 million in uncollected rent.
757WIn May 1987, my Department issued a circular to all local authorities, drawing their attention to Ministers' increasing concern about the high level of arrears owed by their tenants. The circular was based on best practice observed in those authorities where rent collection methods had proved effective, and recommended steps which all authorities might take to improve their performance. It is too early to say whether this advice has been heeded: we will be better able to judge when the figures for 1 April 1988 are available.