§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give an estimate of the fiscal resources which would be required by local authorities in order for reinstatement grants to be issued for a satisfactory method of repair to be undertaken in respect of all council housing stock identified as defective in the Housing Defects Act 1984 which has a method of repair agreed by the Department of the Environment with the National House Building certificate.
§ Mrs. RoeUnder the housing defects legislation local authorities may pay grants to eligible owners of designated dwellings for reinstatement in accordance with the Act's provisions. Such grants are not available towards the cost of reinstatement works to properties in local authority ownership.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what estimate he has of the total current market value of houses identified as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984;
(2) what is his estimate of the fiscal resources required by local authorities in order for all owner-occupied houses, designated as defective by the Housing Defects Act 1984 and which have no approved method of repair, to be repurchased by local authorities at current market prices.
§ Mrs. RoeAs market values of individual designated properties will vary, depending, among other things, on location and condition, it is not possible to make a meaningful estimate of the total current market value of all designated properties. Nor is it possible reliably to forecast the total number and cost of local authority repurchases under the housing defects legislation.
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§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses defined as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984 have been demolished since 1984; and if he will give a breakdown of houses demolished against housing type and year.
§ Mrs. RoeI am aware that some local authorities have demolished certain designated properties in their areas, but detailed information on numbers and house types by year is not available.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which housing types have been designated as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984; and how many dwellings of each type remain in council housing stock in the United Kingdom;
(2) how many houses, and of what type, designated as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984 have been purchased from local authorities in the United Kingdom since 1980; and how many remain in private ownership.
§ Mrs RoeThe house types designated nationally under the housing defects legislation in England are as follows. In addition, local designations have been made for certain properties in Dudley; and for Smith houses with additional foundation defects in Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell and Nuneaton and Bedworth.
- Airey
- Boot
- Boswell
- Cornish
- Unit
- Dorran
- Dyke
- Gregory
- Myton
- Newland
- Orlit
- Parkinson
- Reema Hollow Panel
- Schindler and Hawksley SGS
- Smith
- Stent
- Stonecrete
- Tarran
- Underdown
- Unity and Butterley
- Waller
- Wates
- Wessex
- Winget
- Woolaway
Information on the numbers, by type, of prefabricated reinforced concrete dwellings designed before 1960 in private and public ownership, was obtained in 1983, and updated in July 1986, to include Smith houses. Copies of this material are in the Library. We have been assembling updated information from local authorities on the numbers of designated types (including Boswell) and this should be available shortly. No information is available specifically on the numbers sold by local authorities since 1980.
The library also contains local authorities' own HIP returns for 1987, giving total numbers of designated properties in local authority and private ownerships, though these figures are not broken down by type.